United Airlines to charge $25 for that bag. Fair?
They've cut the leg room. They've cut out the meals and the drinks. Now, in the ongoing quest to cut costs and stay afloat financially, United Airlines is targeting luggage. If you've bought a non-refundable ticket and you aren't a Mileage Plus member, that second bag will cost $25. A fair deal?
United says only one in four customers checks more than one bag. The airline estimates this could bring in $100 million a year. By the way, third and fourth bags for all passengers will be $100 each. It all starts May 5th, and we'll see if other airlines follow suit. Are you willing to pay?
Comments
United already has to be the worst airline to fly on; I'm not even going to begin to detail the nightmare my mother went through with them when she was out here to visit over Christmas. Adding a $25 fee for a second bag is just adding insult to injury. Many people traveling for an extended amount of time *do* travel with a second bag and most of them are flying coach and spending all their savings to take a trip on an already crowded and uncomfortable, delay and cancellation-ridden air travel system. I honestly hope this fails miserably and United with it. I will never, ever fly United for any reason and this bit of news just helped fuel the fire.
Posted by: Tracey | February 5, 2008 9:19 AM
I averaged approx. 4 flights a month on business for about 10 years and i flew on all the major airlines and i can honestly say United was by far the worst of all of them. I got to the point where I did everything in my power not to use them, from rude employees, to dirty planes, that did not look like they even cleaned them up inside between flights, to more delays than other airlines, to the higesht price than the other airlines. There statement of this could bring in more than 100 million a year is no good if you lose more than that because of a bad policy. I think they are very clearly stating if you have more than one bag please choose another airline and I believe we will in droves
The friendly skies don't think so
Posted by: brian | February 5, 2008 11:41 AM
So much for flying the "Friendly" skies!
Posted by: kris | February 5, 2008 2:17 PM
I am all for it. I travel frequently and have you seen the amount of luggage some people take on planes? Good grief, you can do laundry after all, you don't have to take everything you own.
Posted by: K | February 5, 2008 2:28 PM
I was laughing before I finished this article. My partner travels on business every week and frustratingly stopped using United because she never had an on time or anywhere near on time flight. The straw that broke the camels back was a 3 1/2 hour delay out of SF, when she approached the ticket counter the United Rep was rude and told her they didn't know when the flight would leave, never offered another flight even though she said she was on business and had to get there, then did not even offer an apology!! I emailed their customer service and got a $150 gift certificate to use towards next flight, do you think it will ever get used in this household!!! Not unless I have all day to get somewhere.
Posted by: H | February 5, 2008 3:18 PM
Great. Lets get that second bag out of the belly of the plane and into the overhead compartment where it belongs. Besides, we need more bags going through security, don't we?
So if they're going to follow the lead of European low fare carriers by charging for baggage (like Ryan Air), then they should be offering $3.00 airfares, too!
Posted by: Jim | February 5, 2008 9:35 PM
Well, that just about does it for family travel. Because, when you have kids, you WILL have more than one bag. As if it weren't already expensive enough for families to travel, this may be that straw that breaks my back!
Posted by: H M | February 6, 2008 8:23 AM
Good idea bad idea. Bad because unless they make a simular rule for the cabin, its going to bring everyones luggage up stairs. Thats what delays boarding and deboarding planes. Good idea because maybe just maybe some people might get the message that when traveling, you dont need to bring your entire closet,bathroom and half your kitchen with you to make it feel like home. Repeat biz travelers generally travel light. Its the tourist types, especially first timers, that show up at baggage check-in with the mid size uhaul and 3 porters to help them haul it all up to the counter. Plane travel has become a bus service and we need to deal with. By the way, United Airlines is and has for the last 10-15 years been my last choice of carriers to fly anywhere. Anywhere...Its one of the first airlines after deregulation to turn into a cattle carrier. Service sucks and the employees from ticket people on up are generally rude and obnoxious.
Posted by: LEDOG3 | February 6, 2008 8:35 AM
Well, that just about does it for family travel. Because, when you have kids, you WILL have more than one bag. I don't agree with that at all threre is way to much luggage on those flights you don't need every piece of clothing you own to go to florida. I remember when a plane ride was something of a novelty you paid a higher price but got better service. I would rather pay a higher price to keep some of the low lifes out of the skys and in there cars where they belong. I have never had a bad flight on delta i fly from seattle to atlanta often and have no complaints.
Posted by: sounds good | February 6, 2008 9:56 AM
Yeah, one bag works if you're traveling alone or just for a short trip but if you have kids or are going some where for more than a week you're going to need more than one bag. Especially since you can't pack more than 3 oz of shampoo, soap, and etc
Posted by: Casey | February 7, 2008 9:04 AM
I call BS....my God, people are just trying to get somewhere and have already paid way too much for tickets and are crammed into a space for a small child! Maybe United should figure out a way to use "chips" to locate lost luggage. They lost my luggage once and had it courriered to my home from Seattle to Tacoma...think of the money involved in that!
Posted by: Tonni | February 7, 2008 12:07 PM
So now it will be $50.00 roundtrip to bring one luggage bag and a set of golf clubs or a set of skiis?? Stuff it United, you will never get another penny from me!!!!
Posted by: JEB | February 8, 2008 3:02 AM
What...pay $25.00 so people can steal from my luggage
Posted by: Dave | February 8, 2008 10:25 AM