Bad precedent - airlines raise checked bag fees
Effective immediately, all major airlines in the US have increased checked bag fees by $5-50. Below are the updated bag fees for the first checked bag per trip by airline:
- American $45-55 (prepaid vs at airport, Basic vs Economy)
- United $45-50 (prepaid vs at airport)
- Jetblue $39-49 (off-peak vs peak)
- Delta $45
- Southwest $45
- Alaska $45
The reason given was the increased cost of fuel due to the war in Iran, though I highly doubt we'll see it ever come back down when the war ends. While I appreciate this might be a move for airlines to increase revenue without raising airfares too much, I don't think it will move the needle much on its own. In reality, I think there's a hidden objective here.
Credit card signups
Even if you travel with a checked bag just twice per year, the standard $99 credit card automatically pays for itself with 2 checked bag fees. We all know that credit card spend is one of the biggest moneymakers for airlines. Therefore, this change will undoubtedly encourage more people to get the credit cards.
While we're on the topic, keep in mind the major credit card issuers and their restrictions:
- American partners with Citi, whose products are pretty easy to get
- United partners with Chase, which subjects applicants to 5/24
- Southwest also partners with Chase
- Jetblue partners with Barclays, which is semi-risk-averse
- Delta partners with Amex, subject to highly tailored individualized offers
- Alaska partners with Bank of America, whose restriction I am least familiar with
I'm still #teamcarryon
For 85% of my trips, I'm #teamcarryon all the way. There are some exceptions, like trying to get some Delta Skypesos or moving cities with just checked bags, but that's the exception rather than the majority.
My one issue now though is that my Briggs and Reilly carryon is slightly longer than traditional carryons in the US. It's also quite heavy compared to most other luggage, which may cause issues in Europe. But for those instances, I use my cheap hardside spinner carryon (it's been with me for +200k miles and been put through the ringer).