Virgin America jumps on the charge for a checked bag bandwagon

by Jamie Rhein on

Virgin America is joining the lets get more money from somewhere routine and is beginning to charge for the first checked bag. Unlike other airlines that charge more for the second checked bag and even more for the third, Virgin America is only going to charge $15 per bag up to ten bags. Ten bags!!! Wow. That’s for one person.

Listen folks. If any of you are thinking of moving, I’d move to where Virgin America flies and head there. With an 70 pound weight limit per bag that’s 700 pounds of goods for just $150. Of course, thinking about what 10 bags of 70 pounds each would look like in the check-in line is a bit mind boggling. Not to mention getting it all to and from the airport. (Think what a couple could move with for just $300.)

Put into effect yesterday, this baggage fee applies to flights booked on or after May 5. Although Virgin America is adding a charge for the first checked bag, it’s lowering the cost of changing or canceling reservations online from $75 to $50.

These fees only apply to those flying in the main cabin with non-refundable tickets. First-Class passengers can bring two checked bags for no extra charge and those with fully refundable tickets can bring one checked bag. [See Virgin America’s press release outlining the changes.

A prescient video about the airline industry?

by Jeffrey White on

A lot of people think of 2008 as the year of the fee among the major airline carriers, when they began charging for everything from peanuts and water to luggage. We’re constantly speculating about what new costs might be on the horizon: Pay toilets? A surcharge for fat people? A fee for booking a ticket online?

Given what skinflints the airlines have become, this 2007 skit from Mad TV looks prescient, as if it knew that things were about to become pretty ridiculous for air travelers.

Can things get worse?

Owner of Low-Cost Carrier Jailed for Fraud

by Josh Lew on

Businessman Tom Petters was arrested in Minnesota on Friday as part of a federal fraud investigation. He is the head of an investment group that owns Sun Country Airlines, along with stakes in several other businesses. He was charged with wire and mail fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Investigators allege that he masterminded a plan to bilk other investors out of at least one billion dollars.

A federal judge in Minneapolis order Petters to be held without bail after a taped phone conversation revealed that the disgraced entrepreneur planned to leave the country. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. Petters has stated that he plans to fight to be released from custody and maintains his innocence.

What does this mean for Sun Country? The struggling budget carrier has always operated on a shoestring. Petters has agreed to step down from his decision-making position so that the airline will not be harmed by the scandal. However, the scandal comes on the heels of the announcement that Sun Country is struggling and will be “temporarily” cutting staff’s salaries by 50%.

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Troops Charged to Check Baggage on the Way to Iraq

by Josh Lew on

Much has been made of airlines charging for checked baggage. Most people have grudgingly accepted this trend with a “what else can we do” shrug.

What else can we do indeed. It seems that even soldiers on their way to a war zone are not immune from these charges. Military personnel have been hit with fees as they have tried to check heavy rucksacks for flights overseas. Some airlines, like American Airlines, have made allowances for troops, letting them check twice as much baggage as average passengers.

Also, the military is supposed to issue passes exempting troops traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan from baggage charges. Apparently, though, these aren’t reaching everyone.

According to a CNN report, many soldiers have been charged as much as $100 to check their rucksacks and field kits. American Airlines, for one, has promised a refund for those who had to pay up front.

I wonder how long it will take for that $100 to get to the war zone and how much longer it will take the soldier to cash the check.

The VFW has been lobbying the Air Transport Association of America to wave the fees, but a spokesman responded by saying that the organization had no control over the baggage fees charged by individual airlines.

5 steps to smarter packing

The mother of all airline fee tables

by Grant Martin on

Air travel Masa Rick Seaney is seems to be just about everywhere these days, but I have to tell you, his website does come up with some good data every now and then. In addition to Farecompare’s ability to pluck out excellent airfare (the needle in a haystack analogy comes to mind), Seaney has more recently been commenting and writing on the industry on his personal website, RickSeaney.com

Just last week, Rick et al published a huge table of airline fees, containing all sorts of depressing information from reservation over the phone fees to checked bag fees to animal carry-on fees. He’s lined these all up against each other as a function of airline, where you can easily go down, pick your favorite (or ticketed) carrier and see how much your next trip to the airport is going to cost you.

Say you’re taking your family to Disney World this weekend and you have the choice between a 320 dollar ticket on Southwest or a 300 dollar ticket on American Airlines. Initially, you might jump on the 300 dollar ticket. But once you realize that you and your wife both have to check two bags, the kids check one each, the total price falls in favor of Southwest. And if if you have to change your ticket because Timmy got sick and you had to stay an extra day? Change ticket fees on Southwest are also free.

Make sure you take a look at Rick’s site if you’re ever on the fence between two tickets, and take a look at the booking engine while you’re out there.