The other shoe has finally dropped. When American didn’t match the “5 dollar discount” for paying checked luggage fees online during the last round of fee increases, I speculated that this would at least open the opportunity for other airlines to either back away from their fee discount, or raise fees a little more. Today, US Airways announced that its fee for the first check bag was rising to $25 dollars with a $5 dollar discount if customers pay the fee online in advance. This effectively matches American’s $20 dollar fee. As of this writing, no other airlines have followed suit, but I expect that may change.
I’ve said before that I am not really opposed to charging for items that can legitimately be considered a value-added service. However, I am beginning to wonder if airlines aren’t approaching a limit in how much they can charge for checked luggage? Seriously, I think we’re getting close to the point where these baggage fees are getting out of control.
