Thanks for fighting the good fight!!

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.

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.

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.

@ 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.

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!

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.

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.

@ 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.

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.