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Just checked the Delta website since that is what we are flying in May. After May 1 they are charging $25.00 for a second bag. Everyone is allowed one free bag. I purchased my tickets in January for this trip. What a surprise for me. Looks like a phone call :evil: to Delta will be made later.
I'd be curious to know what you will say in that phone call.
"How dare you pass your increased costs on to me?"
Instead of rethinking your packing, you could always pay the $100 (two bags for each of two people, roundtrip).
What cruisers who fly relatively infrequently don't seem to get is that the road warriors who fly 5 times a week and pay fares up to quadruple what cruisers typically pay don't even check one bag most of the time. They live out of their rollaboards just like pilots and flight attendants do. It's the occasional pleasure flyer that typically checks the most luggage and yet pays the lowest fares.
By charging for the second bag they're assessing the added fuel cost on those who are using it.
The point is not that they are charging the fee, it is they are charging people who have already purchased their ticket. I just happen to be flying after the date the extra bag fee starts. I called Delta to be sure it was for all flights after May 1st regardless of purchase date. This is the case. After some polite but stern conversation, I have a memo on my reservation that allows me to bring 1 extra bag free of charge both ways. I'm not sure of your definition of relatively infrequent flyer, but I do fly about 7-8 times a year. I don't think of myself as an infrequently flyer. As for the people who travel 5 times a week, of course they don't need much luggage They usually fly to a meeting in the morning and fly back either that night or the next morning. When you travel for vacation, you need more clothes.
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Instead of rethinking your packing, you could always pay the $100 (two bags for each of two people, roundtrip).
Not everyone can afford the extra fee. $100.00 is alot of money to most people these days. I have no problem paying it. The extra bag fee is something that I can live with. It is the fact that no matter how far in advance you bought your ticket, if you are flying Delta May 1st or after, you will pay for a second bag. This is not reasonable to me.
I will be packing more in my carryon. If I could pack 13 days of vacation for 3 people into 3 carryons, I would. But seeing as part of the vacation is in Tampa and the other part is on a cruise, it won't be happening.
so if I understand this correctly..on my cruise..I travel with a roller bag that fits underneath my seat..a suitor that is attached to my roller bag and my camera bag...am I charged anything ?
By airline standards, someone who flys 8 times a year is an infrequent flyer. Moreover, if all or most of that flying is for pleasure, you're almost certainly booking well in advance, shopping for and paying the lowest fares. And that's the real point.
So you called and made yourself the squeaky wheel and got a concession. Congratulations. Everyone who doesn't call will still pay the extra charge, because the airlines have the right to do this based on their contract of carriage with you. It's just like people who complain about the things cruise lines do sometimes until somebody points out that it's in the contract.
You may think this provision in the contract stacks the deck against you, and sometimes it does. But consider this:
Airlines open their books for reservations roughly 330 days in advance of the flight. In round numbers that's a year. In the last year fuel costs for the airlines have doubled. But you still feel you should be exempt from any additional fees.
Passengers not only want 100% reliable scheduling, 100% reliable safety, a perfect on-time record, rock-bottom fares, utterly responsive customer service, but now they want airlines to have crystal balls to predict their costs a year out, and to lock in fares and fees based on those predictions, which as everyone knows can be tossed into a cocked hat by the latest economic outrage, political war of choice, or terrorist incident.
And then as the airlines march lockstep into Chapter 11, people here and elsewhere do their cluck-clucks and say, "Gee, I wonder what's wrong with those people. How could they have let this happen to their airline? They went bankrupt and now I have to pay more to change my flight to another airline to get to my cruise. I'm inconvenienced and I'm outraged."
Just a little note to those who think increasing the "stuff" in their carryons is the solution:
It's pretty apparent that one of the first casualties of the added fees for bags will be overhead bin space. When all the pleasure flyers start bringing on the max-sized carryons, and when this gets combined with the business flyers who do that routinely, the bins will be overflowing before half the plane has boarded.
So if this is how you decide to try to beat the system, you should start thinking of gimmicks that will make sure you're among the first to board. If you don't, and they can't shoehorn your duffle bag in a bin, they'll require you to gate-check it, and then you'll be angry because they forced you to check the bag with your meds, camera, money and passport in it.
When the bins start overflowing regularly, they'll reduce the allowable size of carry-on bags even further, possibly allowing full-fare passengers more latitude. And then you'll be angry again.
Moving yourself and your worldly goods around in vehicles that burn fossil fuel, whether on land, sea or air, will start costing a lot more as of now. And this time it's probably for keeps. Nobody likes it, but that's just the way it is.
so if I understand this correctly..on my cruise..I travel with a roller bag that fits underneath my seat..a suitor that is attached to my roller bag and my camera bag...am I charged anything ?
According to the rules, you can't carry three items on. Just one plus a purse or a computer. This varies a little among the lines, but that's basically it.
So, if they stop you at the gate with all that stuff, they can legitimately make you go back to the counter and check two of them, and theoretically you'd be charged for that. In practice, they often gate check the stuff, using special tags where the stuff is just taken down from the jetway and placed in a forward hold. In the past they haven't charged for this service, partly because it just isn't practical to be writing up charge slips while you're trying to get the plane buttoned up. It remains to be seen whether they will charge for it under the new rules.
I'm guessing that one of the ploys people will use to avoid the charges is to haul a big load of stuff to the gate (thereby slowing down the security lines even more) in the hopes that if they are forced to gate-check it, they'll beat the charges. Once the airlines realize what's going on, they'll probably take steps to prevent it.
guess no suiter, which means no more tuxes on my cruise unless I rent one on board...do not like to check a bag..good thing I only pack for one (or I could wear my tux on the plane ride to the ship)..have no problem checking a bag on the way home
I have however pack almost everything for a seven day cruise in my suitor, but had no room to bring back stuff that I purchased while on the cruise
another good reason to go a day early if you check a bag..that way you have ample recovery time if your bag does not arrive with you
Delta now charging for 2nd bag
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