'One more infuriating airline fee: a charge for carry-on bags'

Tabnabs

In its seemingly unending quest to tick off as many of its customers as often as possible, the airline industry has added another chapter: Spirit Air announced it will charge passengers for CARRY-ON bags. You get the first one on board for free, assuming it fits under the seat in front of you. The fee for the second will be as high as $45 if you just show up with it at the airport with your rolling bag thinking you can walk on the plane with it. The price is cheaper ($30) if you register it online or call ahead. The airline's explanation is simple: Bring less. Pay less. Deal with it.

This is either brilliantly counterintuitive or flat out infuriating. Me, I'm with Spirit on this one. You? Here's why. Boarding an airliner today is no more difficult than trying to get to a seat on a crowded bus while a moving company simultaneously carts the contents of three apartment buildings through the same space. By trying to beat the current charges for checking their bags, people lug ridiculously large bags on board. Seemingly this works for the airlines because they need fewer personnel to handle (or lose) bags.

The carry-on-everything approach sure doesn't work for me. It's infuriating: the overhead space often gets used up before you get to your seat, meaning that you've got to rush the gateway as soon as the flight is called to make sure you grab some. It's dangerous: you risk getting whacked by stuff being dragged past you by frazzled travelers or getting beaned when the overloaded overhead bins are opened. It's slow: how often have you waited as the last couple of passengers to board play seek-and-hide with their carry-ons. Don't you want to just throw them off the jet? Don't you hate it when it's you?

By charging passengers for bringing second and third bags on board, Spirit will discourage the human camels. And that's great. It will make the flight just a little less aggravating. But it's also a defacto fare increase, since there are very few passengers who can travel with one bag, be it carry-on or not. Even minimalist pros generally need one bag for their work/laptops, one for clothing. Leisure travelers tend to bring way too much—particularly on their way back from vacations. Adults traveling with children are pack animals—they carry everything. They have to be to keep the kiddies moving, happy, and not otherwise wailing in aisle 8. So we're all going to have to pay up. "The real question is will other airlines follow, and will this actually be good for air travel?” asks George Hobica, president of the website Airfarewatchdog. “Planes will load faster if people don't bring carry-ons on board. The other question, says Hobica, is “when will more shoes drop?” Surely, pay toilets are on the horizon— credit cards accepted.

Source

I'd certainly be for charging for more than one piece of hand luggage, but I wonder how long it will take before we have to fill our pockets with our belongings to avoid paying a charge at all?

globemaster1986

+1! Its gone beyond a joke now. Ryanair flights are just ridiculous and even more uncomfortable than before because of luggage between and under seats etc!

andy_g

globemaster1986 wrote: »

+1! Its gone beyond a joke now. Ryanair flights are just ridiculous and even more uncomfortable than before because of luggage between and under seats etc!

its not talking about ryanair in all fairness its talking about spirit air a quick google search came up spirit air is a low fares airline in the US

link here:
http://www.spiritair.com/

GeturGun

Although, it's cheaper to check-in a bag $19 than to pay for a carry-on $30, they certinaly can't call this charge avoidable....
I do agree though that the amount of stuff people try to bring on board these days though is ridiculous.

(They should all be flying with Southwest - 2 free checked bags )

jesus_thats_gre

By trying to beat the current charges for checking their bags, people lug ridiculously large bags on board.

The above quote puts this move into perspective. There is obviously no limit on the size of carry on bags like there is here.

globemaster1986

andy_g wrote: »

its not talking about ryanair in all fairness its talking about spirit air a quick google search came up spirit air is a low fares airline in the US

link here:
http://www.spiritair.com/

Yes thank you andy, i am capable of reading. I'm aware of who Spirit air are and i've actually flown with them. My ryanair comment was just an observation in general on the issue with checked in baggage fees and the amount of luggage now being brought into the cabin by passengers to avoid these fees. It happens with other carriers of course, but i have more recent experience with ryanair flights. If you read the OPs comments you will see they were in general and not specific to Spirit!

andy_g

globemaster1986 wrote: »

Yes thank you andy, i am capable of reading. I'm aware of who Spirit air are and i've actually flown with them. My ryanair comment was just an observation in general on the issue with checked in baggage fees and the amount of luggage now being brought into the cabin by passengers to avoid these fees. It happens with other carriers of course, but i have more recent experience with ryanair flights. If you read the OPs comments you will see they were in general and not specific to Spirit!

im not going to get in to an arguement i dont need it.

but if you look at the artical he quoted its directly for spirit air as it hasn't mentioned ryanair, air lingus, BA or any other airline. just my opinion and everyone has an opinion of their own

globemaster1986

andy_g wrote: »

im not going to get in to an arguement i dont need it.

but if you look at the artical he quoted its directly for spirit air.

Yes i know that, but i believe the OP and the others that have commented in this thread have been commenting on LCCs in general. Nobody is ryanair bashing, i merely mentioned them as they are the LCC i and most others here, i'm sure, would travel with most often! The article is specific to Spirit air but it is intended to spark debate about all LCCs and bring ridiculous amounts of "hand luggage" onboard!

Danbo!

Bah, this has nothing to do with aircraft, theres a thread in after hours, but if you're looking for a more serious discussion, surely this would be more suited to travel and holidays or similar??

As I said in the After Hours thread

Stee wrote: »

Im getting tired of defending ryanair. If you dont like it fly with someone else. If you cant afford to, stop moaning. Its like buying a wrecked old car for 100 quid and complaining it doesnt have air conditioning/sat nav built in.

An old school airline ticket entitled you to - Cabin luggage, hold luggage, a meal or two or more depending on the length of the flight, use of toilets, choosing your seats, etc.

Now, what if I wanna fly to london and back in one day for work lets say, I don't need luggage, its a short flight so i'll eat at the airport and use the toilets there while waiting to board, and I dont care where I sit. Why should I pay for all the above. Ryanair removes the cost of everything so you 'Pay as you go'.

mikedragon32

Stee wrote: »

Bah, this has nothing to do with aircraft, theres a thread in after hours, but if you're looking for a more serious discussion, surely this would be more suited to travel and holidays or similar??

As I said in the After Hours thread

Do NOT move this to T&H. This is about aviation, which is the first half of the title of this forum.

Anyway, I agree with your point re Ryanair. As someone who remembers "Super Apex" fares of £300+ to London, I'd much rather pay €50 for a return flight and then add on the bits I need.

A bold move by Spirit and I have to say I agree. FWIW, I actually think Aer Lingus passengers are worse offenders for oversize and addional carry-on bags. Ryanair passengers tend to know nowadays what they can or can't get away with. However, we got an e-mail from our travel desk in work yesterday as follows:

New carry-on cabin baggage dimensions will be implemented from Monday 12th April 2010. All Boarding Cards, Airport Signage, Baggage Gauges and the aerlingus.com website will be updated to reflect this change as follows:


New dimensions are as follows


Aer Lingus 55cm x 40cm x 20 cm (or 22" x 16" x 8")

Aer Lingus Regional 43cm x 28cm x 20 cm (or 17" x 11" x 8")


10kg remains the cabin baggage weight allowance on Aer Lingus flights.
7kg is the cabin baggage weight allowance on Aer Lingus Regional flights.
All cabin baggage must be small enough to fit in overhead bins or under the seat
One additional small personal item is permitted (eg. camera, personal stereo, overcoat, handbag)
EU security rules regarding liquids, gels and aerosols in cabin baggage apply

Please see

www.aerlingus.com for full list of baggage fees and terms & conditions.

So maybe Aer Lingus have finally taken heed of the nonsense!

robinph

People taking more carry on into Ryaniair planes is still nothing like the size and amount of carry on that people take on board planes in the US, so I can see that it is needed there. The Ryanairs of this world don't let you on with two pieces of carry on anyway, and they are already strict about the size of it.

energydj

DUB-LBA-DUB - Total Cost of ticket: €12!!!!

While waiting to board in both DUB and LBA, I saw the ground staff, asking people to put their bags into the measuring device to see if it makes the grade for onboard carraige. A LOT of people were trying to take the piss with the carry on luggage and they got stung for it!

I do not see this extra €5 for checked bags for July and August being removed when September comes! They will come up with some 'due to passenger demand' etc etc.

GeturGun

mikedragon32 wrote: »

So maybe Aer Lingus have finally taken heed of the nonsense!

Well if Aer Lingus are going to start stricting up on their cabin baggage, then they also need to start charging people at the gate for bags that have to be put in the hold. Boarding at Heathrow recently, 2 men had their bags taken off them at the boarding gate and put in the hold - there wasn't a word out of either of them, they didn't look a bit surprised, they probably do this every single time. So their bags got into the hold for free while I had to pay for mine cos I did it the proper way.
They need to cut down on this kind of taking-the-proverbial as well.

Darwin

On a related note Ryanair plan to trial a new idea regarding baggage in their Winter 2010 schedules. O'Leary wrote about this in their latest in-flight magazine - I'm not sure if this is a joke or not. The gist of it is people can bring as much bags as they wish but to the steps of the aircraft. 1 bag is allowed on board as per the current rules with the additional bags/cases put into the hold. (there was no mention of charges/prices in the article) On arrival at the destination the bags are removed and left for passengers to collect as they disembark. I've no idea how this will work out in practice e.g. will airports be happy with people milling around on the tarmac looking for bags, there could be problems with people bringing large cases through security etc etc

Davidth88

there is without doubt a problem with the amount people bring now as carry on.

Aer Lingus is terrible , I tend to throw my bag in the hold ( most of my travel is business ) and I have a small laptop bag , but I often see people come on board with bags that are huge, and they struggle to get them in the overheads so they are way above the weight limit.

If I recall the IL86 ( Russian Airliner ) had a system where you brought your suitcase on board and dropped it into the hold under your seat then lifted it out afterwards . Seemed a novel and neat idea , at the time I remember the baggage handlers at LHR getting very hot under the collar about it ( I don't think the system was used on the London route )

But it now seems that this could be the solution to the issue , perhaps the Soviets had some good ideas after all !!

Dacian

Darwin wrote: »

On a related note Ryanair plan to trial a new idea regarding baggage in their Winter 2010 schedules. .................The gist of it is people can bring as much bags as they wish but to the steps of the aircraft. ..........On arrival at the destination the bags are removed and left for passengers to collect as they disembark. .........

A mate works in the airport...........apparently DAA are not happy with this idea as it could mean more work/delays at the security areas as Ryanair pax bring more bags through.

robinph

The carrying your own bags to the plane and then loading them to the hold isn't going to happen. It's just another one of the completely daft ideas that he throws out every so often, with no intention of every actually bringing it in, but just to see how much free publicity he can get. Ain't going to happen.

Plowman

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