Flying Naked
Posted on | May 23, 2008 at 10:03 pm | 4 Comments
Pet Peeve of the Day: Recently, American Airlines announced they are going to be charging $15 for the first checked bag. Now, other airlines are considering following suit. This means that you will be unable to fly with checked bags on these airlines without paying an additional fee. It’s one of many cost saving methods the airlines are using to offset the high price of fuel and the other financial problems affecting the industry.
Fine. I have nothing against the airlines trying to recoup costs. The industry is in trouble and needs help. Airlines are going belly-up faster than Hillary Clinton’s campaign. But people like and need to travel, so there will always be a need for airlines. They’ll weather this.
I don’t mind paying the extra fee if I have to. And I don’t mind paying higher fares if it keeps them in business. (However, this idea of flying slower to save gas has got to go. The sooner I can get out of the plane, the better.) What I do mind is how this is going to make the act of flying less pleasant. Once everyone starts charging for checked bags, that means fewer people are going to check bags. Which means more people will be bringing carry-ons onto the plane. Which means longer security lines. Which means less space in the overhead bins for my carry-on. Which means a mad rush to be the first on the plane and the first to get your carry-on into the bin. Overhead bins are already seriously overcrowded as it is.
When I told N about this, her reaction was “Each passenger is still only allowed to bring one (large) carry-on”. True. But now, a lot of passengers check bags that they could carry-on. I know I do that. All of the bags I own are small enough to fit in the overhead bins, yet I will frequently check my bag instead. I don’t like dragging it all over the vast expanse that is Denver International Airport, I don’t like hassling with it through the security lines, and I don’t like finding space in the overhead bins for it, especially if I’m one of the last people on the plane. So I check it. If other people who used to check their bags suddenly start bringing them onto the plane to avoid paying the extra fee, then that means there is going to be more carry-ons. It’s going to be chaos, I tell you… chaos!
Maybe the airlines should just charge for each bag regardless of whether it is checked or carry-on. Yeah, that would go over really well.
So, just my two centavos. Nothing good will come of this. I’m not looking forward to future trips.
Latre.
Comments
4 Responses to “Flying Naked”
May 24th, 2008 @ 12:17 am
If you don’t mind paying extra for flying, just take private jets. Sign up for one of those business jet sharing services, leave from a smaller airfield closer to home like JeffCo or Centennial, and leave the riff-raff behind. It’s what I’d do if I didn’t care about how much flying cost…
May 24th, 2008 @ 5:54 am
My dad is a retired pilot and he predicts that this will be an unmitigated disaster for exactly the reason you say.
At one time about anything you could carry counted as carry-on. Now with all the liquid bans it makes sense to check luggage to avoid hassles. But thirty bucks round trip buys a lot of toiletries at the hotel gift shop. What a rip-off.
May 24th, 2008 @ 2:12 pm
My dad actually looked into the fractional jet ownership thing, and it costs like $100,000 for 15-20 hours of flying. My mom said no way. I think it would be awesomely cool, but I don’t know HOW rich I’d have to be to actually do it — a lot richer than I’ll ever be, I suspect.
May 24th, 2008 @ 8:29 pm
The deal I read about was more like $4,000-$8,000 per average cross-country flight, which is in the same order of magnitude as first class tix purchased on short notice. It’s mostly empty seats on corporate jet return flights, or celebrities renting out planes they’re not using for awhile (like they rent vacation houses to reality shows…), that sort of thing – not really sharing ownership, just space-available flights. It’s great for skipping past customs, for those who just can’t get by on less than 6 ounces of mouthwash!