Charging for Carry-On luggage?

wjmiller3 said:
I totally agree.... Nothing worse than some moron trying to stuff a oversize 26" rollerboard into a overhead bin, determined to make it fit cause they refuse to check bags to save money.
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The main reason for the rollaboard is time, not money. If I have 45 minutes to make a connection, the odds of a checked bag making it are about 50-50. Also, the 45 minutes spent collecting a checked bag adds up when you do it 4 times a week.

It is also a wasted trip for me if my bag gets lost or delayed. No clothes to go to work in? Big Problem.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
The main reason for the rollaboard is time, not money. If I have 45 minutes to make a connection, the odds of a checked bag making it are about 50-50. Also, the 45 minutes spent collecting a checked bag adds up when you do it 4 times a week.
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I routinely have 45-minute (or less) connections and I've not had a lost bag in years. Overall, I've been really impressed with the efficiency of the baggage systems lately.
 
So really those $9 fares are now going to be about the same as you would pay to fly on a special fare with WN with a free carry-on and 2 free check bags. Good luck, Spirit.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
The main reason for the rollaboard is time, not money. If I have 45 minutes to make a connection, the odds of a checked bag making it are about 50-50. Also, the 45 minutes spent collecting a checked bag adds up when you do it 4 times a week.

It is also a wasted trip for me if my bag gets lost or delayed. No clothes to go to work in? Big Problem.
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And that's fine if you use a little sense and pack accordingly. But the people that try to fit a sleeper sofa in the overhead piss me off..
 
pilot4500 said:
It won't be long before they start charging a seat belt usage fee. If there is a loss of cabin pressure, they will probably charge an oxygen mask usage fee as well. It will be free for first class passengers and frequent flier members though.
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[YT]bLGE-059_Ss[/YT]............ :)
 
Doug Taylor said:
As a consumer, I think it's cheesy, but then I wasn't able to bring in my own popcorn and soda from home when I went to go see "Hot Tub Time Machine" last night either.
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going to the movies is A LOT different than grabbing an airplane from one city to another.

You're going to have luggage...even if it is a backpack and a purse.

it might be better to have a small charge for carry-on bags simply because checked bags can get lost a bit too easy and i'd rather pay to keep my bags with me than be told to check them...however, $45 is a lot higher than a *small* fee too and i'm not a proponent of gouging.
 
pilot4500 said:
It will be free for first class passengers and frequent flier members though.
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I fly approximately 100,000 miles a year commercially (ask Calcapt). One of the few ways that customer loyalty (translating into bottom line dollars for the business) can be acknowledged is in small gestures of gratitude. The ticket counter people, and unfortunately a few TSA people, recognize me and call me by name before they see my ID. And although it is nice to be greeted personally in a place I frequent, the crews change every flight and it is impossible to have service by name most of the time (although a few crew members know my name). The rest of the time, being thanked by the business comes only in the form of being provided a few perks that recognize me with a small gesture of thanks for being loyal to their brand. It is customer service that retains my loyalty, and my dollars. The most successful businesses keep their best customers returning because that is where their success is based.

The cost, $45.00, is a lot to apply to a ticket for a bag, regardless if it is checked or not. However, if the goal is to reduce clutter in the cabin and smooth the boarding process, making the checked bag fee considerably less than the carry on bag fee may be the only way to motivate people to check bags instead of fight for bin space.

On a side note, my bags have been lost nine times total, three times forever. The last incident was on Southwest when I went to TUS, and my bag to SMF. I can sympathize with why people want to carry their bags on.
 
killbilly said:
Then again, I fly SWA as much as possible. I know I'm a resident SWA fanboy around here, but I just don't have as many problems as a passenger on SWA as I do with other airlines.
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The only reason the airlines get away with these fees is because people pay them. If people didn't pay them by not flying the airline, they'd be forced to cut the fees. So until then, the fees will keep hiking up.
 
I can see both sides of the coin, although 45 bucks is ridiculously excessive. The sizes of the bags people want to sclep on sometimes is ludicrous. Because of this, the boarding process slows down to a crawl and becomes tense between pax and FAs.
 
It's $30 if you book in advance. Things that fit under the seat plus a number of other items are excluded. My wife just pointed out to me that Spirit started the charge for checked baggage in the US and now most airlines charge more for checked baggage than Spirit does. She has also experienced a lot of trouble on Southwest where it's all free. She says people still bring a ton of stuff onboard and it takes forever to load the plane while FA's look for empty space in the overheads. And five times, her purchased EB ticket didn't work due to SWA's computer problems, so she ended up with a terrible boarding priority and almost had to gate check her bag since the overheads were so full.
 
Arent we talking about the airline that once advertised a $10 fare? I guess that wasnt such a good idea. I can maybe see the larger carriers doing this. Spirit is too small and vulnerable to pull this off. People do not hold loyalty to airlines anymore.
 
I predict that Spirit will see a huge increase in the number of people wearing cargo pants and giant parkas full of pockets - in Fort Lauderdale.
 
Here's what Spirit's new charges could look like:

Ticket Fly DTW-FLL.................... $9 (a bargain price!)
Reservation Fee online booking....$50
Big Ass Seat Fee........................$75
TSA Security Recovery fee...........$10
DTW Departure Fee....................$15
FLL Landing Fee.........................$19
Florida arrival fee.......................$15
Soft Drink Fee (if accepted).........$4
Soft Drink Fee (if declined)..........$8
Checked baggage fee..................$45
Color surcharge for baggage if suit case
is black, blue grey or red..............$20
Snack charge (if accepted)............$6
Snack charge (if declined).............$12
Pilot surcharge (if more than one)...$16
Flight Attendant service fee.............$8
Carry on fee..................................$45
Seat Belt fee.................................$18
Energy Surcharge..........................$79
Taxes...........................................$79
 
The next time I fly I think that I will just ship my suitcase to my destination a couple of days in advance. Between the $20 checked bag fee and the $45 carry on bag fee, I think that it will even out to about the same price wise if I send it second day air on Fedex.
 
pilot4500 said:
The next time I fly I think that I will just ship my suitcase to my destination a couple of days in advance. Between the $20 checked bag fee and the $45 carry on bag fee, I think that it will even out to about the same price wise if I send it second day air on Fedex.
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Don't laugh, I've done that with my golf clubs for 10 years...
 
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