United Airlines NOW CHARGING for 1st checked bag!

[spacytracy]

I just got this in an email so I have no link to post, Now they are the second to do this behind American Airlines:

Before your next trip with us, we would like you to know about changes to our checked baggage policy and revised fees for excess, overweight, oversized baggage and special items, effective for travel on or after August 18, 2008.

If you purchase a United Economy® ticket on or after June 13, 2008 for travel on or after August 18, 2008, a $15 service fee will apply, each way, to check your first piece of baggage. This fee applies to travel within the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada.

As previously announced, a $25 fee will apply to check a second bag when flying on a ticket purchased on or after February 4, 2008. Please refer to the chart below to see which checked baggage fees may apply to you.

ok found a link on the United website: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52481,00.html

[bagaddict44]

This makes me SO ANGRY!!!!! Basically thats going to cost dh, our son and I $55 for 3 bags!!! and this is on top of all the fuel charges, and higher ticket prices!! I think I am going southwest all the way from here on out unless I am going overseas!

[meluvs2shop]

US Airways is doing this also.

[ms.fashionista]

This SUCKS! I fly with United all the time...time to find a new airline to fly with...urgh...

[VPT]

Thank you, I will not invest in carry on luggages since they don't really stick to their limits very well

[CRYLATER3]

WTF, they are crazy.

[meluvs2shop]

i just returned from a trip yesterday and the person in front of us checking in was getting charged $50 b/c his bag was over 50lbs. so consider that as well if you have to check in a bag.

[kittie]

I don't know if this is new news but I found this out today. US Airways is also starting to charge $15 for the first checked bag. It comes into effect on July 9. I'm booking my trip ASAP before the cost of travelling goes up even more!

http://www.usairways.com/awa/Content...uncements.aspx

[Blue824]

Originally Posted by ms.fashionista

This SUCKS! I fly with United all the time...time to find a new airline to fly with...urgh...

They are following American Airlines. Also, it doesn't apply if you are in the mileage plus program, same with how American does it... so easy enough, sign up online and it won't be an issue for anyone who is part of that!

"The changes apply to customers who buy a ticket on or after June 13 for travel within the United States and to or from Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on or after August 18. The $15 fee does not apply to some customers who are members of United's loyalty programs." -- United Airlines to charge fee to check single bag - Yahoo! News

[twiggers]

^^^Actually that is NOT true. You have to be a VIP member of the mileage plus program!

[Compass Rose]

I'm tellin' ya......pretty soon there will be a weight scale out at the ticket counter where they will start weighing you, too.........

[Blue824]

Originally Posted by twiggers

^^^Actually that is NOT true. You have to be a VIP member of the mileage plus program!

Oh, didn't realize that!! Then that is annoying. I just do carry one, pretty much all the time, but I have noticed the bins getting fuller lately too, which is an annoying side effect of more people not wanting to check luggage and taking things aboard too large for the carry on bins.

[pisdapisda79]

This is absolutely ridiculous, it's not enough with the fuel surcharge & now this extra cost. If people had hesitations about travelling, I am sure this will push them over the edge & people will start to travel less & less

[redney]

I posted in the other thread on American Airlines' baggage fee since they were the first to charge one...I simply do not understand why not add in the additional fee to their ticket prices.

Everyone knows fares are increasing due to increased fuel costs, so adding in a little extra into an overall ticket price would not materially raise the prices, yet would do a whole lot to avoid anger and bad PR in the public's eyes.

My $.02 (or maybe it's only $.01 nowadays...)

[surferchick2]

Airlines make more money on cargo these days than tickets due to deregulation and rising fuel prices rising at an astronomical rates. Because they're paying more than 30 billion per year (and climbing...1.00 increments cost another 10 million per) for fuel as they were last year (yet, tickets are still less or the same than what they were in the early 80's when oil was dramatically less), they're finding some other way to recoup. I know 55.00 a barrel in 2005 was astronomical then, so 130 plus is devastating. Even the arab oil embargo of the 70's drove the prices to only 80.00/barrel (in todays prices) when tickets were higher than they are now in comparisson. This may not be the way and will probably cause big problems at the gate, but it's at the point of desperation. The first checked bag will effect about 23% of the travelling public. The future of the majors are dismal and we may have to get used to greyhounding it when they eventually fold.

This is a pretty good report:


U.S. Airline Industry Headed Toward 'Catastrophe' at Current Oil Prices
Friday June 13, 12:01 am ET Several Airlines Likely to Fail; Affordable, Frequent Air Travel and Jobs at Risk
WASHINGTON and RADNOR, Pa., June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- At current oil prices, several large and small U.S. airlines will default on their obligations to creditors beginning at the end of 2008 and early 2009, according to a study issued today by AirlineForecasts, LLC and the Business Travel Coalition. The study shows that $130/barrel oil prices will increase yearly airline costs by $30 billion, while airlines will be able to generate only $4 billion in fare increases and incremental fees. The implication of this alarming trend is that several large and small airlines will ultimately end up in bankruptcy, and of those, some will be forced to liquidate.
For a full copy of the study, go to http://tinyurl.com/6qhh99
"If oil prices stay anywhere near $130/barrel, all major legacy airlines will be in default on various debt covenants by the end of 2008 or early 2009," the study conducted by AirlineForecasts for BTC states. "U.S. commercial aviation is in full blown crisis and heading toward a catastrophe."
"Airlines are the primary source of inter-city transportation, critical to national and local economic development, the flow of human capital, movement of just-in-time parts for manufacturing, perishable food and other goods critical to our economy," the study says. "With airlines gravely threatened, so is our economic well-being."
Findings: -- The top 10 U.S. airlines will spend almost $25 billion in higher fuel costs this year over last year when jet fuel averaged $2.11 per gallon. Fuel hedge benefits could offset $5 to $6 billion of the increased fuel costs. -- Earnings for the group, when one-time reorganization charges are removed, were less than $4 billion in 2007, the only year of profitability this decade. The group could lose as much as $9 billion over the next 12 months if the current range of oil prices holds. -- Industry fares will have to increase at least 20% -- across the board and on average -- just to cover the dramatic gap-up in fuel costs from 2007. This is not possible given the level of uneconomic seat capacity in the system today. -- The upshot of higher fares is less traffic, and given a reasonable estimate of price elasticity, the industry will eventually be forced to shrink its seat capacity by 15% to 20%. However, there is no guarantee that a transition to a smaller, more expensive (for the consumer) airline industry would be successful and sustainable. -- Airlines have the ability to raise some cash, and moreover, suppliers such as aircraft manufacturers, leasing companies and travel management companies will have an incentive to support large airlines that provide a stream of value. Nevertheless, without a swift reduction in the price of fuel, the industry is headed toward a massive failure that will result in more bankruptcies, including liquidations.
"The U.S. airlines, and those who depend on them, are watching with growing alarm as their cash reserves fall precipitously toward zero as the price of oil, already at unsustainable levels, continuously spikes into uncharted territory," the study says. "These airlines have never faced a darker future."
"Brand name legacy carriers that we and American communities from coast to coast have depended upon for decades to provide us with affordable, frequent air service are running out of cash, and therefore, toward a date with bankruptcy and liquidation," the report warns.
"Airlines can attempt to radically shrink the industry," the study states. "But given the competitive situation they face, it's highly unlikely that they will have the ability to reduce capacity to levels that will allow all of them to survive. Instead, absent direct policy intervention, the likelihood is several airlines will fail."
"Stabilizing this ailing industry must become a national policy priority," the report states. "Many Members of Congress, federal regulatory officials, state legislators and Governors have yet to fully appreciate the devastating impact an oil-crippled airline industry will wreak on our culture and our national and local economies."
About BTC http://businesstravelcoalition.com/home/mission.htm About AirlineForecasts, LLP http://www.airlineforecasts.com/index.html


http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080613/nef011.html?.v=59