As Air Canada and Southwest have become the newest carriers to introduce charges for checked baggage, these additional or “hidden fees” continue to rise sharply, sparking frustration among both politicians and consumer advocates. Concurrently, there has been an increase in the sale of smaller suitcases designed to be used as carry-on items instead.
Outside Toronto’s downtown airport, Lauren Alexander has arrived from Boston for the weekend. She refers to these extra fees as “absurd.”
I feel deceived,” states the 24-year-old. “When you purchase the ticket, you believe it will cost less, but afterward, they charge an additional $200 (£148) for your luggage.
Ms. Alexander opted to travel with just a small backpack as carry-on luggage to bypass the fee.
Sage Riley, aged 27, concurs, stating to the BBC, “It can be expensive.”
Once upon a time, checking bags, choosing seats, and getting meals were included in the basic fare for commercial flights. However, this changed with the emergence of low-cost carriers, according to Jay Sorensen from the U.S. aviation consulting firm IdeaWorks.
In 2006, UK budget airline FlyBe reportedly became the world’s first carrier to begin levying charges from passengers.
to check in bags.
It charged £2 for a pre-booked item of luggage, and £4 if the customer hadn’t paid in advance.
Other budget carriers then quickly followed suit, with the so-called flag carriers or established airlines then also doing so, at least on shorter flights.
In 2008, American Airlines was the first U.S. carrier to introduce a fee of $15 for checking the first bag on their domestic flights.
Mr. Sorenson states that these conventional airlines believed they had no option as they started recognizing that low-cost carriers presented substantial competition. He further explains, “They thought it was necessary to take action in response to this challenge.”
By fast-forwarding to the present day, we can see that U.S. airlines collectively earned $7.27 billion from check-in baggage fees in the previous year.
according to federal figures.
That figure has increased from $7 billion in 2023 and $5.76 billion in 2019.
It comes as little surprise that many people are now opting for only carrying on their luggage. Kirsty Glenn, the managing director of UK luggage company Antler, corroborates this trend, noting a persistent increase in the demand for compact suitcases that comply with airlines’ size restrictions for carry-on baggage.
“We’ve noticed significant increases in online search activity both on our platform and our website,” she states. Discussing a compact model their firm introduced in April, Ms. Glenn remarks, “It’s clear this aligns with people traveling solely with carry-on bags; we’re selling it extremely well.”
At the same time, social media content about travel packing “hacks” and luggage that meets airlines’ carry-on size measurements, have soared according to travel journalist Chelsea Dickenson. She makes this content for TikTok.
Social media has significantly boosted the concept of requiring a bag that meets the luggage size restrictions,” notes Ms. Dickinson. “This has turned into an essential element of the content I generate and share on social platforms.
Ms Dickenson, whose social media following has ballooned to close to a million followers, adds that her luggage videos have become a “core part of the content” she creates.
“It blows my mind,” she says. “I could spend weeks and weeks researching a big trip, and the resulting videos will not come close to doing as well as me going and buying a cheap suitcase, taking it to the airport, testing it in one of those baggage sizes and reporting back.”
The overall global cost of all airline extra fees, from luggage to seat selection, buying wifi access, lounge access, upgrades, and food and drink, is
expected to reach $145bn this year,
14% of the sector’s total revenues. That’s according to the International Air Transport Association, which represents the industry. This compares with $137bn last year.
These figures have drawn the interest of certain politicians in Washington, and last December, airline executives faced questioning from a Senate committee. A Democratic senator was the one who employed the term.
“junk fees”.
He has called for the federal government to examine these expenses and possibly penalize airlines. When we reached out to the US Department of Transportation for their input, they did not respond.
However, if paying for check-in was not sufficiently burdensome, an increasing number of airlines have started imposing fees for carrying hand luggage. As an illustration, the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair permits only a compact bag that can fit beneath the seat in front as complimentary baggage. Should you wish to bring a larger suitcase or bag to store in the overhead compartment, there will be a charge starting at £6.
Other European carriers like EasyJet, Norwegian Air, Transavia, Volotea, Vueling, and WizzAir also impose fees for carrying hand luggage.
This has annoyed pan-European consumer group Becu (The European Consumer Organisation), which last month filed a complaint with the European Commission.
Becu cites a 2014 EU Court of Justice ruling, which said “carriage of hand baggage cannot be made subject to a price supplement, provided that it meets reasonable requirements in terms of its weight and dimensions, and complies with applicable security requirements”.
However, what determines “reasonable requirements” continues to be a grey area in need of an official ruling.
There can, however, be a different way of doing things, as shown by Indian airline IndiGo. Its boss Pieter Eibers says that it does not charge for check-in luggage.
He explains, “The whole approach here is distinct. Our objective is to avoid lengthy queues and ceaseless arguments at boarding gates regarding baggage weight. None of this applies to us; we manage to turnaround our aircraft within 35 minutes.”
By BBC
Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. (
Syndigate.info
).
