Airline baggage fees continue to climb

by Scott Carmichael on

What started with a single airline charging passengers to check their second piece of luggage has slowly evolved into a massive money making scheme netting some airlines as much as $1 Billion in additional cash.

The state of airline travel now means there are just a handful of airlines that do not charge for additional bags, and those airlines that do charge you, are getting so greedy that they are actually raising their prices again.

At the moment, United Airlines and US Airways charge $15 for the first checked bag, and $25 for the second – that fee is about to go up an additional $5 for passengers who do not prepay to check using the airline website.

Delta and Northwest (the same airline now they have completed their merger) will be charging an insane $50 for the second checked bag on international routes.

The only major airline that has (so far) resisted the urge to charge for checking bags, is Southwest. This low cost carrier has even launched a massive TV advertising campaign promoting the fact that they offer free checked baggage on their flights.

Bottom line is that a family of 4, each carrying 2 bags will pay as much as $500 if they fly abroad on some airlines. The only solution to the problem is to bring less stuff, or try and stuff as much as possible into the overhead bin.

A well maintained airline baggage fee chart can be found over at the site of Airfarewatchdog.com.

What strange things have been found on planes?


Ten things that can (and will) spoil your vacation

by Scott Carmichael on

Vacation is meant to be a fun time – a chance to get away from it all and enjoy yourself. But things happen in life that can really mess up those plans.

In this gallery, we’ve collected ten of the worst things that can happen on a trip that will really screw up your vacation.

If you are lucky, you’ll only run into one of them, but the really unlucky traveler may be thrown a combination of problems, turning a fun vacation into a horror vacation from hell.

Check out our lineup of ten things that can spoil your vacation here.

On-time airline improvements continue, third month in a row

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Airlines in the United States posted an improved on-time performance rate in April relative to the same month the year prior – stretching their streak to three. The 19 largest airlines were on time 79.1 percent of the time in April 2009, compared to 77.7 percent in April 2008. The industry also performed better than it did in March 2009, showing a month-to-month improvement from 78.4 percent. An on-time arrival is defined as being within 15 minutes of the scheduled time … which has already been buffered comfortably by the airlines.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 7.4 percent of April delays resulted from aviation system issues. Late-arriving aircraft caused 6.2 percent, and factors within the airline’s control (e.g., maintenance or crew problems) accounted for 4.8 percent. Extreme weather and security together didn’t even account for 1 percent of delays. The most delayed flight was Northwest Airlines Flight 803 from Atlanta to Honolulu. It was late 97 percent of the time.

The DOT also found that:

  • Cancellation rates improved to 1.5 percent in April 2009 – from 1.7 percent in April 2008 and 2.1 percent in 2009.
  • Nearly 50 flights had taxi-time waits of greater than three hours
  • Mishandled baggage rates improved to 3.79 per 1,000 from 4.99 in April 2008 and 4.12 in March 2009

Customers complained to the DOT 781 times about airline service, compared to 1,112 in April 2008. But, it was up from the 705 the previous month.

So, the airlines are generally posting some positive numbers – Fight 803 notwithstanding. Why? Are we looking at a vast improvement across an entire industry … an industry that clearly can’t afford to invest in doing a better job?

Let’s not go crazy, here.

The airlines are doing a better job because they don’t have to deal with as many people. Fewer asses are occupying seats, which eases the burden of boarding passengers, pushing back on time and keeping track of their luggage. Ironically, success is the path to failure, as selling more seats would give airlines an operational burden they’ve proved they’re ill-equipped to handle.

Gadling gear review – The Tom Bihn Tri-Star

by Scott Carmichael on

Let me open with a quick re-introduction to Tom Bihn bags. We first covered them here on Gadling when they announced their Checkpoint Flyer “TSA friendly” laptop bag. That bag was so impressive, that it went on to win a spot in our top 25 travel products of 2008.

Tom Bihn bags are a rarity in the luggage world – they are all designed, and hand made in the US, using many US sourced materials. The Tom Bihn Tri-Star is an interesting bag- it is the first bag that has actually made me excited about a piece of luggage.

When the bag was first announced, only a few details were released, and when the final product was shown, I knew it was going to be high on my “must review” list. So, here it is – the first ever review of the new Tom Bihn Tri-Star bag.

The Tri-Star is, as the name implies – a three in one bag. Previously, we took a look at the Tom Bihn Aeronaut, which offers similar features. The Tri-Star is a backpack, shoulder bag and carry-on bag all rolled into one. Best of all, these three features are extremely well implemented, and allow you to carry the bag in whatever way you want, each providing a ton of comfort. The Tri-Star holds 33 liters and weighs 3.4lbs. It measures 19″x13″x8″.

Folks following Tom Bihn bags will be interested to know that the Tri-Star falls between the Aeronaut and the Western Flyer (the Aeronaut holds 45 liters, and the smaller Western Flyer holds 26 liters). The size of the Tri-Star makes it ideal for a two or three day trip. In an upcoming article I’ll show you just how much stuff I carry with me when I travel!

One of the biggest innovations with the Tri-Star is actually the color. For the first time ever, Tom Bihn used blue in a piece of their luggage. I normally don’t pay much attention to things like fabrics and colors, but when you dive a little deeper into the technology behind luggage fabrics, you’ll be confronted with terms you’ve never used before, including “Dyneema/Nylon rip stop” and “ 1050 denier ballistic nylon”. What it boils down to, is that Tom Bihn spent a ton of time picking the perfect fabric for this bag, and actually had the “urethane coated, 1050 denier” specially dyed for them in the US.

The end result is a combination of abrasion resistant material in an amazing color. Seriously, when I opened the box containing the Tri-Star, the sun made the bag light up unlike I have ever seen in any piece of luggage.

The Tri-Star I am reviewing is a combination of their new Indigo (blue) and Solar Yellow (on the inside). This combination simply rocks, and makes the bag stand out from anything else you’ll find at the airport.

Now, on to the features of the Tri-Star. The basics are quite straight forward – you get 3 large main compartments, and 4 zippered pockets on the front. On the pack is a zippered portion for storing the backpack straps when you are not using them.

The rear compartment is the largest, and is designed to hold large items, like pants or shirts.This portion also features 2 tie-down straps, making it easy to stuff full of clothes and compress. The entire compartment folds open, making it easier to fill with garments.

The middle portion is designed to be able to hold more larger items, including a laptop sleeve (like their optional Brain Cell shown in the photo above). On the top of this compartment are 2 special clips which can hold the Brain Cell in place. Of course, you are also free to use this part for anything you want. This compartment opens on the top and a portion of the sides.

The third compartment is perfect for thinner items, like documents or a newspaper, but is also a great place for the “Horizontal Freudian Slip“, which is an optional accessory, but one that I can highly recommend. It is a removable “office” designed for pens, documents and other office-on-the-road items. The compartment can be split in half with a zippered divider. When you unzip the divider, the entire compartment can fold open.

On the front of the bag are 4 pockets – 3 horizontal, and one vertical. The three horizontal pockets reach to the bottom of the bag, and provide a ton of “give”. The largest of the pockets holds a removable key strap.

The vertical pocket to the right of the other 3 is a smart one – it is designed to hold a water bottle, and is fitted with what Tom Bihn refers to as “bellows”. The bellows prevent your bottle from falling out if you open the zipper. This feature can be “undone” by opening a button.

The zippers on the Tri-Star are as impressive as the bag itself. They are “YKK splash-proof Uretek zippers”, which means you won’t have a puddle in the bottom of your bag if you encounter a bit of rain. The zipper pulls are normal metal pulls, but Tom Bihn include a bag of cord zipper pulls with the bag. These can be attached to the metal pulls, or can completely replace the metal pulls (if you chose to remove the metal pulls, you won’t be able to send it back asking them to replace the pulls under their warranty).


(Photo showing the backpack straps stored inside the bag)

The Tri-Star costs $240 and is available in 4 different color combinations (Indigo/Solar, Steel/Solar, Crimson/Steel and Black/Steel). On its own, the bag does not include a shoulder strap. During the order process, you can pick one of two different shoulder straps. If you add the Horizontal Freudian Slip, a Brain Cell laptop case and a shoulder strap, the total price is $370.

Let’s be honest – this is not a cheap bag, and if you are used to buying $25 bags, then this price may seem quite insane. There is however something to be said for investing in a quality bag, and one that is designed to last for years.

Luggage like this is an investment, and if you treat high quality luggage well, then it’ll travel with you for years and years. If you are on the road a lot, then your luggage becomes part of your “home”. You can be in a different plane or hotel every night, but the one thing that always joins you is
your bag.

All Tom Bihn bags come with a lifetime warranty, and purchases have a 60 day money back satisfaction guarantee.

My conclusion about the Tom Bihn Tri-Star is simple – this is an absolutely amazing bag. Every portion of the bag feels like someone sat down and spent a massive amount of time trying to think like a traveler. The end result is a bag that not only looks great, but also works. With the current trend in airlines charging passengers for all their checked luggage, any bag that is designed to help you carry more of your stuff on board will eventually start saving you money.

In the coming week, I’ll take the bag on a trip and will report back (with photos) on how well it performs in the “real world”.

Gadling gear review – Landor & Hawa Sub-0-G ultralight rolling luggage

by Scott Carmichael on

In this Gadling gear review I’m going to introduce you to the Sub-0-G luggage by Landor & Hawa. By now you’ll know that I don’t review just any old luggage, with so many bags out there, any bag that passes through Gadling better be special.

The Sub-0-G bag may look like a normal rolling suitcase, but read on to see what makes this bag anything but normal. (Kudos to the fantastic OBOW Blog for first posting about this product).
The Landor & Hawa Sub-0-G luggage is quite simply the lightest rolling bag I have ever seen. In fact, I’ll call it “silly light”. The rolling suitcase in this review weighs just under 5 pounds and offers 2759 cubic inches of storage space.

When I opened the box, I lifted the bag out with one finger, and spent my first 10 minutes just playing around with it in amazement.

Light luggage is perfect for those of us that carry far too much stuff. Some of my rolling suitcases weigh 15lbs when they are empty. In fact, I have several backpacks that weigh more than the Sub-0-G rolling suitcase!

Despite weighing next to nothing, the bag still offers everything you’d expect to find on a piece of rolling luggage – retractable handle, smooth/silent rolling wheels, and plenty of storage compartments.

The inner structure of the bag is designed around a fiberglass frame, not unlike the kind of stuff used in an ultralight tent (in this photo I have unzipped the inner cover). Thanks to this design, the weight is kept to a minimum, and the bag still has plenty of strength.

The fiberglass also provides a bit of “bend”, which means over-packers will still be able to bring all their stuff along with them.

On the outside of the bag is where you’ll find 2 zippered pockets, large enough for a couple of magazines, books or other items. On the inside is of course the main compartment, with 2 elastic packing straps. Behind the flap are 4 elastic pouches, perfect for socks, underwear or other small items.

Going back to the outside – the top of the bag features a very comfortable aluminum tube handle for carrying, and a very wide retractable aluminum handle for dragging the bag through the airport.

Sadly, there are two small things that I found lacking on the bag – there is no handle on the side of the bag, and the retractable handle does not lock. Having a handle on the side makes it easier to pull a bag out of the baggage compartment, or off the luggage belt at the airport.

The lack of a retractable handle means you will push the handle in when you push (instead of pull) the bag. Neither of these omissions are that serious, and given how well the rest of the bag performs, I don’t think they are a reason to think negatively about the Sub-0-G bag.

The Landor & Hawa Sub-0-G luggage is available in 3 versions; 20.5″, 24.5″ and 28.5″. The manufacturer is in the process of making some changes to the available sizes, so some online vendors may still stock the previous lineup (19″, 23″, 26″ and 30″).

MSRP for the bags is $205 (20.5″), $235 (24.5″) and $265 (28.5″). A set with all three bags will retail for $600. The bags are covered by a generous 10 year warranty.

Of course, as with all luggage, it pays to shop around, and you’ll easily find some retailers with much lower prices on this fantastic luggage.