AA Goes for the 2nd Bag Fee

[WingNaPrayer]

AMR Corp. (AMR) is following a host of other carriers in charging some customers $25 for a second checked bag as airlines try to raise money in areas beyond fare hikes.

The American Airlines parent expects only 4% of passengers who check a second bag to pay the fee. Those exempted include frequent fliers who have reached certain status levels and buyers of full-fare tickets. International flights are also excluded from charging the fee.

Those purchasers of domestic economy tickets which would be subject to the fee will have to pay if their ticket-purchase date is on or after May 12.

The checked-baggage assessment comes as many carriers, including AMR, swung to a first-quarter loss amid surging fuel costs.

UAL Corp.'s (UAUA) United Airlines started the trend for charging some flyers for a second checked bag - long a freebie as carriers charged extra for three or more checked bags - two months ago. The move led to speculation of an industrywide shift if rivals followed suit - another step down the path of charging passengers for products and services such as meals, curbside check-in and advance seat assignments that once were complimentary.
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By exempting international, this means PAP, the BIGGEST ABUSER of AA and FAA carry on policy will STILL get to haul an entire house with them when they travel.

 

[jimntx]

Maybe this will get some of our passengers to asking themselves the question...do I really need 6 changes of clothes for a 3-day weekend in LAS? Particularly since i am going to wear the same t-shirt and age-inappropriate shorts every day.

I know that when I first started flying for AA in 2000, I carried a fresh shirt for each day of the trip plus one (for just in case), an extra pair of uniform pants, exercise clothes for each layover, jeans, t-shirts, and a change of "nice" casual in case we went somewhere "nice" on the layover. After dragging that stuff through airports for less than two months, I started thinking in terms of what I REALLY needed on a work trip. Interestingly enough, that knowledge also spilled over to my leisure travel as well.

 

[eolesen]

Wing.... think back a week or two, and the advance notice that Canada required for tariff changes. Most international destinations have similar requirements. This I know well.... my wife used to do bag tariff filings...

So, I'm sure it is coming. Eventually. Maybe.

 

[FWAAA]

I fully understand (and favor) the $25 charge for the second bag.

What I don't understand is why AA is exempting 96% of the domestic customers who check a second bag?

 

[WingNaPrayer]

They are afraid that the bag fee will chase customers to the competition, which is silly since AA was all but the last holdout to charge the fee. Now that most of them have the fee, customers won't be chasing free cargo between carriers.

Now . . . about that 100 dollar stroller fee . . . . .

 

[FWAAA]

AA really needs the money - there's no denying that.

$25 times, say, 40 million bags a year would be $1 billion. Now we're talking real money.

Perhaps AA should look to begin charging $25 per checked bag. For all checked bags, not just the second bag. No, make that $40/bag, $25 if you're elite or full-fare. $15 discount for loyalty or high price.

 

[WingNaPrayer]

Wing.... think back a week or two, and the advance notice that Canada required for tariff changes. Most international destinations have similar requirements. This I know well.... my wife used to do bag tariff filings...

So, I'm sure it is coming. Eventually. Maybe.

When the flight originates in this country, the tariff crap doesn't apply. Sock 'em double on the outbound, refund half if they don't bring a second bag back!

There should be no exceptions with the price of fuel. AA is wasting an ocean of fuel hauling sh|t for people for free. Enough of that nonsense. If they absolutely have to bring it, then they should pay to get it from point A to point B, just like they pay to get their fat asses to the same place.

On my way back through MIA today, I got a glimpse of the check-in lines for AA and what surely must have been New York bound because in my mind's eye, I must have counted 60 of those huge cadillac strollers and I know there were more than that. Most of them were piled with luggage while the screaming brats rolled on the floor at an ignoring mother's feet. The strollers are just as bad as excess baggage and they are not an assistive device so AA doesn't have to provide free transportation for strollers. They don't have to provide it for wheelchairs either for that matter but that's another ADA argument. But those strollers, they take up a good chunk of space in cargo, space that could be sold for a profit.