A Consumer Travel Alliance study* found that "[o]n average, passengers paid a total of $36.80 in fees for every round trip ticket – nearly $150 for a family of four." Budget-conscious when you book, you think you will just take your carry-on. But in a mad scramble to pack you decide you can't fit it all in, or you don't want to run out to the store for travel-size toiletries. Or your suitcase exceeds the weight limit. And you check your bag, and the airline collects an additional $35+ on your cheap ticket.
Here are some ways to avoid being shocked by baggage fees.
1) Know your TSA guidelines and keep travel-size containers and quart-size plastic bags on hand so you are ready for last minute packing.
2) Buy lighter luggage. My carry-on choice is the Traveler's Choice Rome Hardside Carry-On
. (I have it in silver.) It is so light it feels like it will fall apart, and reviews suggest it will if you check it. So don't. It's a carry-on. And it gets great reviews from those who only carry it on. 3) If you know you'll need to check a bag, use Kayak.com's Toolbox feature which allows you to add the number of bags you plan to check and then adds that into the ticket price so you can see what you will really be paying. Kayak has a nice chart for fees on baggage, pets, drinks and meals and other fees you never thought of.
4) Jet Blue and Southwest are great choices if you need to check bags. Jet Blue allows one free checked bag, Southwest allows two.
Consumers paid $9.2 billion dollars in fees to the airline industry in 2010. These fees are part of the strategy the airlines have used to stay in business during a recession. They aren't going to go away.
*2010 data
No comments:
Post a Comment