Are We There Yet? How Much to Check a Bag Today?

I can’t remember what city I was in when I saw the Titanic exhibit at the local museum.  It was impressive.  What impressed me the most (as a frequent Traveler, I suppose), was the sheer volume of luggage that people brought on board with them.  If you consider that there was no real air travel in those days, and that a steam across the ocean took more than a week, people frequently stayed and toured their destination for months, literally.  It simply didn’t make sense to board an ocean vessel for ten days, see America for the weekend, and then steam home for another ten day voyage.  Couple that with the ridiculous clothes people were expected to wear, and suddenly, five or six steamer trunks seems to be “about right” for the average person on board!  The elite brought a small encapsulation of their lives with them, paintings, favorite furniture, motor cars, family jewelry; twenty or thirty 4’x2’ steamer trunks for their family were not uncommon.  The best part?  There was no baggage fee!  Travel companies (like the White Star line and the rest), accounted for the simple fact that their passengers were going to bring along copious amounts of luggage, and they didn’t charge them a single extra nickel for it.

The “Unsinkable Molly Brown” would have a thing or two to say if she were to try to board a plane today, I should think.  Especially frustrating about the baggage charges are three things:

1.  <!--[endif]-->The rules aren’t the same for every airline
2. <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->Each airline seems to change their own rules every other day
3. <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->When one airline finds a successful way to milk us for more money, the rest are soon to follow.

As of this morning, Spirit Airlines has invoked the following charges:

1. <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->$20 for a checked bag.
2. <!--[endif]-->$30 for a carry-on bag if you pay online in advance.
3. <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->$45 for a carry-on bag that you declare at the gate.
4. <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->No charge for a bag that you carry on if you can fit it under the seat in front of you.

To add insult to injury, Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza told CNN in an interview that today, “Bringing luggage along is not essential to business travel.”  I suppose it isn’t, if you have an executive assistant to arrange to have your suits shipped, or purchased in advance.  Perhaps Ben has a private closet in every hotel in America?

Some are hoping that our congress will alleviate matters, now that they’ve stepped in.  I doubt it.  The issue here is that the airlines made a combined 3.7 billion dollars (“Billion,” with a “B”) last year on baggage fees, and none of it (“none,” as in “zero”) was taxed.  Congress wants some of that.  There’s no way they’re going to turn down over a billion in tax revenue to make less costly for the American business traveler to fly.

The bottom line is this; you need to pick an airline that you wish to frequent and stick with them.  In most cases, gaining elite status is your ticket to free baggage.  Keep your eyes open for good deals.  The American Express Delta Skymiles credit card allows to check a free bag when you use the card to book your ticket.  Above all, pack less!  Take shorter trips, do more laundry on the road, etc.  I suppose you could always acquiesce and just decide to pay the fees, but Molly Brown’s ghost would be very disappointed in you.  Very disappointed, indeed!

EXTRA: If you have questions for Ken regarding business travel, hotels, airplanes, etc, please send him a “Tweet” on his twitter account.  You can also follow Ken on Twitter @foodbreeze!