Update 2/23/24: United have also increased bag fees.
- $35 for first bag and $45 for second bag when booked more than 24 hours before departure
- $40 for first bag and $50 for second bag when booked within 24 hours before departure
Both American Airlines & jetBlue have increased bag fees.
- jetBlue
- $35 for first bag and $50 for second bag when booked more than 24 hours before departure
- $45 for first bag and $60 for second bag when booked within 24 hours before departure
- American Airlines
- $40 first bag and $50 for second bag
Normally when one airline increases bag fees we see all of the others quickly follow and increase their own fees.
View Comments (108)
I think it's the same case as with Airbnb cleaning fees. Hosts were going crazy with them because when you search you only see daily rate. With many airlines charging for first bag now, it needs to be included when I search for a ticket. At least there should be an option. That will keep things competitive.
Yes. Google flights does have a neat feature of including carry on/checked bag when you search, and it will add the charge on top of the ticket price. It's my #1 research tool for flights now. My only hope is for Google not to kill that feature/product, like they've done to so many things already.
These airlines just get more terrible and the service just borderline rude half the time - they don’t actually believe they’re in the service business anymore they’re essentially just driving a flying bus in the ghetto
These companies barely turn a profit, are perpetually 2 months away from bankruptcy and often are propped up by the government.
Unless we're ready to pay a lot more to fly, this is best we're gonna get.
Barely turned a profit? Delta Air Lines brought in a record $58 billion in revenue in 2023, and posted a $4.6 billion profits.
Based on the comments these airlines should be bankrupt in a few weeks because nobody will ever fly them again.
Instead of big 3 we need to have big 6 or 7. Breakup airlines into domestic and international only. Any domestic should be able to interline with any international. So southwest can sell tickets to Europe, they fly to New York or wherever and Air France takes you from there. We will have more competition in the domestic space and international space.
More recently, Alaska and Hawaiian, JetBlue and Spirit. These are a regional or budget airline merge with a second tier carrier though. I'm not sure if that'll turn them into big 4/big 5 and increase competition, or do the opposite.
We used to have Continental, USAirways and Northwest. Those mergers should have been banned!
Southwest 2 bags still fly for free.
Southwest is the goat.
Luggage forwarding service like in Japan is what’s needed.
When a Scandinavian Airline started to charge the fat for the extra weight, of course many were outraged but that's how this should work. When someone with 2 full suitcases weights less than a fatty next to him, why shouldn't they pay more??
I weigh 100 lbs soaking wet, and I would never think someone who weighs more than me should pay more for a flight ticket. That's really forgetting the human here - no need to make flying more dehumanizing for some people.
Then my bag should be allowed the extra pounds of you don’t want to charge fatties more
Stop making things up that never happened.
International one checked bag still free.
Not Air Canada
Start enforcing carry on policies instead. People boarding with a suitcase, backpack and another bag full of stuff that proceed to take forever to load their luggage.
Unfortunately they do not care about how long it takes to load. When you bring your baggage to the plane, they save money on infrastructure and paying of baggage handling/airport staff/ground crew. They simply build the extra boarding and deplaning time into their schedule. They are essentially pushing the cost of labor onto the traveler.
It would be better to allow a free checked bag under a certain weight, then charge a progressively higher fee for heavier checked baggage. I think lots more flyers would check bags, even many carry-ons, speeding up boarding and freeing up bin space. (By the way, I can imagine the airlines would like to charge for carry-ons, too.) /
But, of course, these fees aren't about efficiency or convenience; they exist solely for earning the airlines more cash, despite what they say about "unbundling" the associated costs of a ticket. / Also, in other news: Airlines Simply Have no Shame, Jump on Fee-Escalation Gravy Train.
I just now decided to start carrying on a suitcase, backpack and extra bag plus duty free purchases.
Idk why some folks in the comments are normalizing "just use the airline card bro". Like sure, but at the end of the day that takes away even an appearance of choice in selecting an airline when you travel. Suckers argument.
I ditched my Alaska card the moment I realize it doesn't come with travel insurance. My fault for assuming it to have it though.