United to Begin Charging Extra for Second Bag!

[DeepDiver36]

Lets see.... my weight with gear multiple by 2 carry the one.... by my calculations. I can fedex myself and the wife overnight for $302.28 to Hawaii.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

If United is charging it's regular non-refundable fare passengers $25 for a second bag, it's still not a bad deal alltogether when the alternative is driving somewhere; flying is still cheaper based on today's gas prices for most longer distances to be traveled. I can still fly round trip from Denver to Fort Lauderdale (1700 miles each way) non-stop for between $250 - $300 (on United).

If I had a car that averaged 30 MPG, and I paid an average of $3 per gallon of gas, I could do the same trip for $340 in gas (not including meals, and possibly a hotel) and it would only take about 24 hours of driving in each direction. So potentially paying $325 (to pay for an extra bag) to do the trip in 3.75 hours seems worth it to me.

Just my 2 cents...

Were you a middle school math teacher in a former life. This post reminded me of...a car is leaving town X at 5:00 pm traveling 60 miles an hour at an MPG rating of 30 traveling 300 miles, etc...

 

[HowardE]

Were you a middle school math teacher in a former life. This post reminded me of...a car is leaving town X at 5:00 pm traveling 60 miles an hour at an MPG rating of 30 traveling 300 miles, etc...

I'm not even a college graduate

I was just having a similar discussion with an associate the other day (before the announcement of the baggage thing) regarding driving to NY from FL vs. Flying.

 

[ItMustBeJames]

Of course, some of us just have premier and don't have to worry about it. :bang:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Actually, I like United a lot, but I find they don't fly to where I end up diving so it becomes a non-issue anyway.

 

[DiveMaven]

The last 3 times we've flown United we've used miles and gone free...guess spending $25 for an extra bag won't kill me.

 

[Cajuncru Diver]

Hmmmmm - wonder if i can pick up a cheap golf bag for my dive gear.. now there is a good idea!

I have several.....what color and style do you prefer????

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

The real bummer on this is the amount of carry on is going to increase. If you remember the one bonus of the post 911 security was that more bags were checked and there was a decent amount of overhead space on most flights. With this change, I expect the overheads to be crammed by the time boarding 1 is done (the Premeirs and above). So for normal folks without special status (boarding 2,3 and 4) are scrwed.

FYI: I fly united a lot (100K per year), with all the perks its not bad (3x70lbs bags for free). I think Air New Zealand has a 20Kg limit (1 bag, 44 lbs), now that is tight.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

I think there's some confusion - your ticket will be the same price. If you choose to take another bag, you'll pay an extra fee on top of your ticket price. If you choose to take one or no bag, you just pay the base ticket price.

Thanks Alcina. No Confusion here though. Its a little condition I like to call Sarcasm.

 

[Rick Inman]

You sure that wasn't Northwest? Thought they were the only ones charging for exit rows. Not to mention aisle and window seats to boot.

Hummm.... My wife and both remember it as beng United, but in dong an internet search, I can only find information saying NWA is charging the additional fee.

 

[HowardE]

A quick search on Airline Charges reveals this...

Monarch Airlines and BmiBaby charge £20 return for putting a bag in the hold, with Flybe charging £18 and Easyjet £10. Ryanair charges handling fees (70p-£2) on bookings, as do others.
Lorna Cowan, editor of Holiday Which?, said: "We're disappointed to see the major budget airlines introducing charges for services that were once included in the full cost of the ticket."

and I hear some US airlines have begun charging for SOFT DRINKS!

Last year several airlines began charging $2 for curbside check-in - PER BAG...

Like I said earlier... The prices of the tickets themselves have not been rising proportionally to the price of fuel. We're still paying about the same for airline tickets as we were 2 years ago, when the price of gasoline was only about $2 per gallon at the pump. This 33% increase hasn't translated to a 33% increase in airline ticket prices.

Sure it sucks that United is doing this, but I would venture a guess that it won't be too long before this is the norm for several major carriers.