I never meant to openly challenge American Airlines’ indefensible policy of charging those who can least afford it – budget-conscious leisure travelers – for the first checked bag. I had no intention of making a scene when I boarded a flight to Dallas with my family last week.
But sometimes, these things can’t be avoided.
We were traveling with one carry-on bag per person. But three members of our party were kids, so it looked as if we were trying to pull a fast one, hauling everything but the kitchen sink on board. Also, the luggage template they forced us to squeeze our bags into looked as if it could barely fit a pocketbook. (Is it my imagination, or are those templates getting smaller?)
The agent reluctantly gate-checked four of our bags to our final destination without charging us. But not before subjecting us to a humiliating dress-down in front of the other passengers.
“Just a reminder,” she said on the PA, as we frantically tried to repack some of our bags. “You are limited to one-carry on bag and a personal item. Anything else will have to be checked …”
All she needed was a spotlight. I felt like taking a bow and saying, “We’ll be here again next week! Come back and see us!”
Bringing too much luggage on board is a proven but controversial strategy for avoiding luggage fees. Except that we had no intention of playing the system. If anything, we were singled out for being inefficient packers and traveling with young kids.
So here I am, sitting in seat 30D with the roar of an MD-80 engine in my right ear and a gate agent’s words still resonating in my left: “You will be charged $25 per bag on your return flight.”
I took it as a threat at the time, but in retrospect, the agents probably see this every day, and their anger is directed at their employer who introduced the pay-for-the-first-bag rule two years ago – a policy decision that brought tens of millions of dollars in much-needed revenue to American Airlines.
I don’t have a problem with unbundling – the act of removing components of an airline ticket — in principle. But as I mentioned in a previous column, there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way. American’s decision to “upsell” us on luggage is wrong; Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who introduced the Clear Airfares Act last year, has the right idea.
Airlines ought to be required by law to quote a price that includes essential components, such as the ability to check a bag, and allow passengers to opt out, rather than trying to upsell customers on something they assume will be part of the ticket. Anything else is dishonest.
I accept the blame for being a bad packer. But should American have stopped us because we were traveling with a three-year-old, a five-year-old and a seven-year-old, and it just looked as if we were flouting the rules? I think you know the answer to that question.
On our return trip next week, I’ll make sure everything fits in the Lilliputian luggage template. If American insists on charging us an extra $100 for our bags, you’ll read about it here first.
(Photo: Robert Crum/Flickr Creative Commons)
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Chris:
As the mother of a 5 year old, I feel for you. I look at this from several angles:
At their ages, your kids weigh much less than even the average adult passenger (therefore costing the airline less to transport them) , so an agent should be able to overlook an extra item. They take up less room in the seat, too (unless they’re going to be an in carseat). Tell then its not an extra bag, its a booster seat, and have them demostrate by sitting on it.
Parents know (and so do intelligent travelers) that kids need more stuff to keep them occupied on a five hour flight. I’m known for having a lot of chutzpah. If I were put on the spot and embarrassed, I probably would have announced loudly at the gate: “Of course you can check his portable video games, coloring books, and snacks! I’m sure no one will mind that a kid with airlplane-induced ADHD will have nothing to do but kick the seats and run in the aisle for the duration of the flight.”
One word: Southwest!
Chris,
Why do you put up with this treatment? You know that American Airlines is NOT your ONLY option into Dallas.
I avoid airlines that have ridiculous ticket change fees, baggage rules, and the like. Life is too short. And that is why I nearly always fly Southwest.
I have a standard roll-aboard I have brought with me everywhere. I had no problem carrying it on Spirit Flights, Ryanair Flights, AirTran, Delta, you name it. The thing could barely be squeezed into American’s “template.” I had to heartily force the bag in, so yes, I think they are shrinking them.
I think Chris was connecting to Eagle Vail. Whenever Southwest starts flying there, Vail Valley and Aspen and I will celebrate, but for the moment, it is legacy carriers and regionals only.
Not only are the carry-on templates getting smaller, so are the overhead bins! The airlines are purposedly shrinking them in order to gouge the flying public! Family vacations are now getting extorted by extra fees at the airport!!!
When we went on a cruise in December with my family of four, including myself, my wife, and a 4 year old and 12 year old, we had four carryons (three rollers and a garment bag), as well as two personal items between us. Had we been challenged regarding the carryons, I would have raised hell. Each passenger is allowed one carryon. Each child is a passenger. Each child, therefore, is entitled to a carryon. As it was, I had to only smirk after passing onto the jetway, hearing an announcement imploring passengers to follow carryon limits. At the time, I had a roller case behind me, a garment bag on my shoulder, and a backpack in my hand.
If the rules are that each passenger must CARRY their own carryon, then they need to apply the rules fairly and evenhandedly. “Sorry, grandpa, you can’t move your wheelchair yourself–Gotta check it!” “Ohhhh, you’re on crutches? And you can’t drag your roller with you? That will be $25 each way to check it.”
The airlines have put themselves in a position where customers will do everything imaginable to game the system solely and only because of usurious fees. Simply put, there’s not enough storage if everyone brings their contractually-agreed upon maximum items. Disincent people from checking things that can be brought on board, and everything possible (and then some) will be brought into the cabin. Once upon a time, the only factor was “Can I bring it?” vs “Can I give up the time to claim it and run the risk of losing it?” Now, it’s “Can I get away with bringing it?” vs “Is it worth paying for?”
Chris, you are correct in your pursuit of friendly skies. It doesn’t matter what age your kids are or size. You paid the same fare for each person, and by rule, entitled to 1 free carry-on per person. If you are carrying 2 bags or 3 bags, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s no more than 4 and the bag complies with the size box they have out.
There was a time when everything was included in the ticket price, ie, luggage, food, inflight movie (if available), legroom, pillows/blankets, magazines, etc. This was during the regulated era of airline travel. The airfare was regulated and set by the CAB so that it actually paid the cost of doing business with all the items listed above, as well as include a small profit for the carrier. Since deregulation the prices have come down to a point that it is difficult for a carrier to break even, even on a full flight. . . and that is not including the “freebies” that were available in the 70′s. It is like the old saying, “Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.” If the fares would be raised (adjusted for inflation) to the level they were in the days of airline regulation, flying would/could be a pleasure again.
It is hard for me to believe this story. It seems to me that something is missing from the story. It looks like that one or more of the carry-on was\were bigger than 45 inches and\or one of the personal items wasn’t a personal item and\or there were more than one personal item per person. Another possibilities is that all of the overhead bin space was full when the Elliotts boarded. It is my guess that one or more of his children had two personal items.
First, the rule is one carry-on item and one personal item per passenger. Except for lap children, all children can have one carry-on item and one personal item per passenger. Unless someone in his party had a carry-on that was bigger than 45 inches, a personal item that wasn’t a personal item and\or had two personal items per person in addition to their carry-on then the gate agent was wrong. If you had a carry-on that was bigger than 45 inches, a personal item that wasn’t a personal item and/or two personal items per person in addition to their carry-on, then it was your fault.
Second, it is hard to believe a gate agent doesn’t know the rule of one carry-on and one personal item applies to every passengers…not adult passengers. I have travel 100 flights a year for the past 9 years and I have not seen a gate agent forcing children (2 to 18) to gate check their carry-on unless the overhead bins were full already or their carry-on was too big or they had a two personal items in addition to their carry-on.
Second, it is hard for me to believe that a Super Duper Über travel expert like Chris Elliott won’t say something like “every passenger is entitled to one carry-on of regulation size and one personal item…every one in my party has a one carry-on of regulation size and one personal item. What is the problem?” For work soemtimes, I carry a tape measure with me; however, I started to carry a plastic tape measure with me if someone ever challenge me if my carry-on bag is more than 45 inches.
Third, I have been only questioned one time on more than 20+ flights about our carry-on luggage when I was traveling with my wife and son (3YO) and that was when my wife was carrying our sleeping son and I was carrying all of our luggage…I politely said that this is the luggage for the whole party.
@ Chris: “I never meant to openly challenge American Airlines’ indefensible policy of charging those who can least afford it – budget-conscious leisure travelers – for the first checked bag.” I need to call you on this statement. You have been writing about it since last summer. In your August 4, 2009 column of “7 ways to avoid checked baggage fees”, your last suggestion was that the general public should contact the federal government to regulate how fares are calculated (i.e. the price of one checked luggage is included in the fare). In your August 29, 2009 column of “All we’re really asking for are fair fare”, you repeated your desire to include fees for checked luggage, meals and etc. into the fare.
According to AA (if you beleive them), only 25% of their passengers pays a fee to check luggage. Why should 75% of AA customers subsidizes the 25%?
As an elite FF, I can check my bags for free. It is my fear if Congress passes a law requiring airlines to include a fee for checked luggage in their fares that I will lose this benefit.
If you don’t want to pay for checked luggage, you have options: 1) become an elite flyer and don’t pay a fee; 2) fly Southwest; 3) get a Continental Airlines branded credit card, book a CO flight with the credit card and pay no fee to check one piece of luggage; 4) use UPS or FedEx to ship your luggage (it will cost you more than $25 to ship a suitcase); 5) take the bus or train instead of flying and 6) drive your car instead of flying.
@ laura townsend elion – “At their ages, your kids weigh much less than even the average adult passenger (therefore costing the airline less to transport them) , so an agent should be able to overlook an extra item.” The airlines can be fined by the FAA and the airlines (at least US Airways) will fine the GA, FA and/or etc.
@ laura townsend elion – “Parents know (and so do intelligent travelers) that kids need more stuff to keep them occupied on a five hour flight.” I have a 3 YO and he has a little back-pack and a little carry-on that can carry all of his toys, food for all of us, extra clothes, blanket and etc. that he will need on a 4-hr flight. In addition, I will carry some DVDs and books in my carry-on. We always ended up not using 50% of the stuff we packed for him. The point is that we can travel with a young child without breaking airline policies.
@ laura townsend elion – “One word: Southwest!” Last August, a company was paying for my airfare and suggested Southwest over US Airways. The fare on US Airways was $ 80 cheaper. Even if I had to check a bag and was charged for it, it would have been still cheaper than Southwest.
@ Arizona Road Warrior:
The airlines/FAs/whatever MAY be fined, but I doubt they are, judging by the amount of stuff I see other people schlepp on the plane.
Good for you that you’re capable of all that! I believe Chris’ point(which has happened to me a well as a parent) actually was that taken in its entirety, the party was not violating the rule, it just appeared that way because children are often unable to carry their own luggage and the adults end up carrying all of it. I know in my case, it’s way more important that my child hold my hand and not run off or be snatched in the chaos of the airport, than that he shoulder his own bag (which at his size is then impossible). And to be clear, I was having a bit of fun with that comment.
Finally, its pretty obvious this article is about a family. While you as a single traveler may be able to suck up the extra baggage fees, when a family is traveling, the $25 fee charged EACH WAY adds up and often makes SWA much cheaper than other airlines when that is considered.
We were traveling with one carry-on bag per person. But three members of our party were kids, so it looked as if we were trying to pull a fast one, hauling everything but the kitchen sink on board. Also, the luggage template they forced us to squeeze our bags into looked as if it could barely fit a pocketbook. (Is it my imagination, or are those templates getting smaller?)
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I say you pack a TAPE MEASURE and see what the template measures and pull up the size restrictions on their website and see if there is any difference!
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laura townsend elion February 22, 2010 at 1:06 pm
As the mother of a 5 year old, I feel for you. I look at this from several angles:
At their ages, your kids weigh much less than even the average adult passenger (therefore costing the airline less to transport them) , so an agent should be able to overlook an extra item.
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Extra item? That’s in violation of a federal LAW that my colleagues spent many years on Capital Hill trying to get passed. A BAG LIMIT. It’s fair to everyone because there’s a limit to the amount of bags that can come onboard. The invention of the rollaboard has made it impossible to accomodate everyone’s carry-on in the overheads.
One word: Southwest!
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Yeah……………….try STANDING at their (silly) Pole, the last one and see if you can CARRY ON your allowed items. A 737 overheads are smaller then many other aircraft configurations out there.
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So here I am, sitting in seat 30D with the roar of an MD-80 engine in my right ear and a gate agent’s words still resonating in my left: “You will be charged $25 per bag on your return flight.”
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30D???????????????????? Seatguru, Seatexpert have been online for over a decade.
Frank-
I’m not going to argue, but I have ACTUALLY seen people take two ‘personal items’ in addition to a rollabag on the plane, whether because the attedants are too busy,too tired,don’t care, or don’t want a confrontation, I don’t know. (I actually once witnessed one woman accuse an attendant of racial discrimination/profiling for telling her she had too many carry-ons).
And, one advantage of flying as a family with small children is you usally get to board first, so – fair or not- its not your bag being gate checked!
@ laura townsend elion – “The airlines/FAs/whatever MAY be fined, but I doubt they are, judging by the amount of stuff I see other people schlepp on the plane.” If there is a FAA inspector, they are fined.
@ laura townsend elion – “I believe Chris’ point(which has happened to me a well as a parent) actually was that taken in its entirety, the party was not violating the rule, it just appeared that way because children are often unable to carry their own luggage and the adults end up carrying all of it.” Chris didn’t state that he and/or his wife was carrying his three children carry-on luggage as well as their carry-on luggage. When he ran this article on his Elliott blog, he refused to answer any questions about these specifics; therefore, you are making an assumption.
One of my guesses that he saddled his three young children with the maximum size carry-on in order to prevent paying a fee to check them. Another of my guesses is that his children had two personal items and they couldn’t pack them in their carry-on.
@ laura townsend elion – “I know in my case, it’s way more important that my child hold my hand and not run off or be snatched in the chaos of the airport,..” My son loves to fly and when we are at the airport, he carries his own carry-on (it is probably adds up to 20 to 25 inches) and his Thomas the Engine back-pack. We tell him the gate # and he leads the way with us walking behind.
@ laura townsend elion – “Finally, its pretty obvious this article is about a family. While you as a single traveler may be able to suck up the extra baggage fees, when a family is traveling, the $25 fee charged EACH WAY adds up and often makes SWA much cheaper than other airlines when that is considered.” I am an elite FF and I don’t pay a fee to check my luggage. When my wife and son travels with me, they don’t pay a fee to check their luggage. The example that I gave, the US Airways fare was $ 80 cheaper than Southwest was for a single fare; therefore, a family of 4 that is a savings of $ 320…that will pay for a lot of checked bags! Sometimes Southwest has the lowest fares but sometimes they don’t even if a person has to pay a fee to check a luggage on a legacy airline.
Laura Townsend Elion February 22, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Frank-
I’m not going to argue, but I have ACTUALLY seen people take two ‘personal items’ in addition to a rollabag on the plane, whether because the attedants are too busy,too tired,don’t care, or don’t want a confrontation
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who’s arguing? I’m stating facts. Do extra items get onboard, yes, depends on the F/A who is working the entrance of the aircraft. Should they, NO!!!
THE RULE APPLIES TO EVERYONE. So when an airline employee tries to ENFORCE THEM, they shouldnt be berated for doing so.
Apparently, people feel they’re above the law or dont respect others who follow them.
and, THANK YOU, Arizona Road, your post was awesome and trully reflects your experience as a freq. flyer.
one comment about your remark:
@ laura townsend elion – “I know in my case, it’s way more important that my child hold my hand and not run off or be snatched in the chaos of the airport,..”
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I couldnt agree MORE. A Continental GATE AGENT had his neck broken by an irresponsible PARENT who allowed his child to run free IN A SECURE AREA. Angelo was simply doing his job, that day.
“I don’t have a problem with unbundling – the act of removing components of an airline ticket — in principle.”
I too don’t mind unbundling if that’s what it is. If it’s truly unbundling, initially the price of the airline ticket would go down by the price of the “optional” service.
When the airline doesn’t reduce the price by the amount of the new service, it’s simply a price increase that they are trying to hide.
Alan February 23, 2010 at 8:41 am
“I don’t have a problem with unbundling – the act of removing components of an airline ticket — in principle.”
I too don’t mind unbundling if that’s what it is. If it’s truly unbundling, initially the price of the airline ticket would go down by the price of the “optional” service.
When the airline doesn’t reduce the price by the amount of the new service, it’s simply a price increase that they are trying to hide.
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SO…. ALAN? Do you mind an industry that is trying to generate Revenue to SURVIVE? It’s seriously, laughable that you think an airline can reduce airfares WHEN THEY ARE ALREADY CHEAPER THEN 30 YEARS AGO.
The airline industry has lost $50 billion in the past 10 years, including $11 billion in 2009 alone, according to the International Air Transport Association. The trade group expects the industry to take at least three years to recover from the slump in demand caused by the recession.
Chris,
Its up to you and everyone else who has a travel column to write about these things when they happen. You have the power of the pen and we look to you to help us.
Thanks for fighting the good fight!!