Delta Increases 2nd Checked Bag Fee To $50
Delta announced today that it's doubling the fee for a second checked bag from $25 to $50, effective on new bookings starting July 31st for all travel after August 5th. Got a third, fourth, or fifth bag and a lot of money to burn? Fees for those will rise from $80 per bag to $125 each.
Delta is also raising fees on oversized items and heavy items.
First-class passengers, international travelers and elite members of Delta’s frequent-flier program will still be allowed to check two bags for free. First-class and elite travelers can check up to three bags at no charge on international flights; a third bag will now cost a coach-class passenger traveling overseas an extra $150.Items that are 62 to 80 inches long, including athletic equipment like surfboards and skis, will cost $175 to check after Tuesday on all flights. They now cost $150.
Delta is also increasing its charges for heavy baggage, regardless of whether it is included in a free baggage allowance. A bag that weighs 51 to 70 pounds will cost the traveler $90 to check in the United States, and $150 on an international trip, up from $80.
A bag weighing from 71 to 100 pounds will cost as much as $300 to check on an international trip, compared with $150.
Although a before-and-after chart of the new fees is supposed to be available at www.delta.com, as of July 29th we couldn't find it (if you do, please post the link in the comments below).
"Delta Raises Fee for a Second Bag " [New York Times] (Thanks to Ken and Mary!)
(Photo: Getty)
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Comments:
If you're checking two bags for a domestic flight, you have more problems than worrying about a fee. I'm guilty of this when I travel to school each fall. Thankfully I have a ton of crap in storage.
At this rate, it's cheaper to ship your bags. This is getting out of hand. I'd rather see them raise ticket prices a little bit then continue to go crazy with fees.
Although I have a feeling my dorm room may be uncharacteristically empty this fall due to my knocking things down to one back. Worth the cost for the second bag? Meh, if I really want it, shipping it up will be around the same cost and save me the hassle of dragging it to the airport.
@Lin-Z: I don't know, the bag fees actually force me to think before I pack. I'd rather go a little lighter than pay more
Also this page has all the fees listed, although not next to each other it does show before and after: [www.delta.com]
Seriously!?!?!
This sucks a lot since I'll be flying on August 7th with a family of 6! Common Delta! Give me a break.
I don't think skis are charged extra. The PDF still says:
"Items of skiing/snowboard equipment may be accepted as checked baggage and one such item maybe included within the free baggage allowance. One item of skiing equipment is defined as one pair of skis/ski poles or one snowboard, and one boot bag. The combined weight of the ski/snowboard bag and the boot bag may not exceed 50lb or excess weight charges will apply. The maximum outside linear dimensions
may exceed 80 inches, and no excess size charges apply."
Whereas for SURFBOARDS:
"Surfboards will not be accepted as part of passenger's free allowance. All surfing equipment will be charged a rate of one excess bag charge of USD175* each way up to 70lbs. Surfboards are one board per bag, additional boards in a bag will be charged, per board, the excess bag rate. Surfboards over 70lbs will be charged the excess weight charge of USD175 in addition to the flat rate fee. The maximum outside linear dimensions may not exceed 109 inches."
many people, including above, are still not making the right comparison or thinking about the issue in the "new" frame of mind. They do not like being charged for something that was free before. But that is not the point. The "new" point to understand is:
For a service that gets you up to 50 pounds of baggage at the speed of your flight, at the destination the same time you are, checking a bag is still the cheapest compared to all your other options.
i.e., if you need something to travel to your destination with you on the flight, you will not find a cheaper way to send it. Compare the price of Fedex/UPS, can they will charge you way more than that.
Now, for bags/stuff that you can do without for a few days, and you don't need specifically to bring with you, you may be better off sending it ahead with ground service or your choice of package delivery. Airlines provide fast service, and if your needs are not that critical, then they want you to choose to check less, or find alternative, more appropriate (cheaper) means of doing it.
That is what the airlines are trying to get people to understand and pay for -- services that they don't take for granted and will actually pay the real value for.
@kepler11:
For a service that gets you up to 50 pounds of baggage at the speed of your flight, at the destination the same time you are, checking a bag is still the cheapest compared to all your other options.
They're going to have to get better at keeping that promise, if that's the argument they (airlines) are going to make.
I predict:
1) Airlines will soon start charging for all checked baggage, including the first one.
2) Flying without checked baggage will still be considered a red flag on your Terrorist Likelihood Profile (TM).
3) Profit!!!
@kepler11: And BTW I don't argue your point that $50 is cheaper than shipping 50 LBS via a shipper. The cheapest FedEx rate for Chicago to SFO via FedEx is $49.43 and that's 4-day ground. My point is, airlines are notoriously bad at getting people's luggage to their destinations with them, in one piece, to be making this sort of claim.
I predict:Ummm... almost all of them do, already.1) Airlines will soon start charging for all checked baggage, including the first one.
I can see the boardroom discussion now:
We're losing money! What should we do?
~ Lower prices? Attract new customers?
Ha ha ha ! Seriously, we pay you guys a lot of money, what you got for us?
I want ideas like, Raise fares! Charge for baggage!
~ Isn't that just shooting ourselves in the foot?
We have more than one foot and bullets are cheap.
I agree with the point that the airlines need to work on improving their bag loss statistics, since they are charging people these new fees and you expect something for your money. Currently it is in the range of about 5-10 lost bags per 1000 passengers (depending on airline). Probably the decrease in checked baggage due to these new fees will help improve that (slightly). But you are right, in comparison with UPS/Fedex, they make many more mistakes, and they need to work on that.
But also, you have to see that they are delivering a very different kind of cargo compared to UPS/Fedex -- suitcases packed all different nonstandard sorts of ways, bulky, non-palletizable non-rectangular stuff, that is expected to be at the destination within 15 minutes of landing. This makes it more difficult to optimize the process.
just to emphasize -- my point above is to say that despite all the bad stories here and in the news periodically, you have a pretty low chance of losing your bags on any particular flight. Most people are getting their bags without a problem. For nonstop flights and simple itineraries, there is even less chance of losing your bag or having it delayed.
I may not be a pro surfer, so correct me if i'm wrong;
But who the hell uses surfboards that weigh over 70 pounds, Godzilla?
@kepler11: And once again you're on the boards defending every policy by the airlines. It's enough to make one think that you have an interest in them!
It's gotten so expensive to ship surfing equiptment that I just started buying new boards when I travel. Sucks when you are traveling somewhere that doesn't have a lot of surf shops though (i.e. Nicaragua) - earlier this year I paid 150$ to fly a throwaway board I paid 100$ for.
Here's the problem I have: by charging for checked baggage, you're encouraging customers to stuff everything they have in an inevitably oversized carry-on. This causes the security lines to be longer (since many are inexperienced and don't know how to pack the things they need to pull out) and causes boarding delays while they fight with their bag for 5 minutes.
Ummm UPS/Fedex rates aren't bad at all for depot to depot (assuming you use "business rates", which you'd have to anyways to get the non retail service, but "retail rates" are a scam anyways, anyone can get business rates, and everyone should)
I am fairly certain you could ship a 1 ton pallet depot to depot for what Delta wants to charge for two extra > 50 pound bags.
I see what's happening... it's all about getting you to buy your ticket on Delta. Joe Blow Average Consumer will shop online for the cheapest ticket. Delta is positioning itself to be the lowest option. Customer buys ticket, but because they don't fly that much (or read Consumerist), they don't find out until they get to the airport about Delta's excessive fees to check a single stinking bag. Consumer is pissed, but has no choice but to pay to check bag at airport. Delta instantly makes more money.
Now, the problem is that Delta forgets about the people that leave there thinking "I'll never fly this ******* airline again". Once enough of them swear off Delta, they'll be worse off (but then again, companies don't seem to care if you swear them off forever).
Anytime I have actually needed a second bag I have always shipped it. Whether it's been mountaineering equipment, golf clubs or scuba gear it was always too important for that stuff to arrive at my destination so I ship it rather than trust the airlines to deliver it. Lose some stuff and there goes your vacation.
Working in a hotel I see lost luggage EVERY day. I do not trust the airlines to deliver my luggage. Now with a $50 fee, there is NO reason to check a second bag.
I don't mind a baggage fee if I can be assured that my bags will actually get there!
Seriously, these carry-on regulations are ridiculus and I refuse to pay for a checked bag:
1) Cologne is forbidden
2) Razors are forbidden
3) I can't wear a belt or shoes, so I must use rope and birkenstocks.
The government is turning me into a dirty hippy.
Hey - what does it take to be a frequent flier - it seems from their website that you simply need to have a frequent flier card. But I'm sure its not that simple to get a 2nd bag free.
50 lbs really is a LOT of baggage for one person. I'm constantly amazed by how much crap some people try to bring on a plane. Airlines are meant to carry your personal luggage for your trip, not become your u-haul for the move from CA to TX. I can go to Europe for 2 weeks in a large carry on or small checked bag. Laundry while on vacation isn't that hard to do. It's way easier on the body than dragging around carts full of huge suitcases to just use the hotel's service for a few bucks, especially if you're not going for a LONG trip. Is it really that big of a deal to only get one checked bag? Baggage weight is the second largest factor in fuel load...
@yasth:
Shipping Rates for 2000 lbs (1 ton), NMFC Class 92.5, commercial dock to commercial dock with no accessorials services required, high volume shipper's tarriff, from Dallas to Chicago: $525.
Just thought you might want to have some real numbers.
Next up, gas will still be $4.25/Gal, but they'll charge you $50 extra for the hose and the nozzle.
Ech.. Thank God I don't/won't fly anywhere. My last big trip was NYC to Chicago for work. Amtrak baby! My own sleeper, my own toilet. Dinner. Newspaper under my door when I woke up, coffee in the car, then off to breakfast. Arrived in Chicago and walked to my hotel. No BS! Ready to go when I got there. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
Hmmm... is mental baggage considered carry-on or checked?
I swear, the next time I have to fly I am bringing a fifty pound bag of gravel and a bunch of styrofoam blocks with me. When I put my bag on the scale to be weighed, I am going to add gravel until it's .001 pounds under. Then I'm going to duct-tape styrofoam blocks to the outside until it measures exactly the number of linear inches listed. If they're gonna nickle & dime me to death, I'm gonna get every gram of my size & weight allowance.
Then I'm gonna hand the gravel to the next guy and say "hi, here's some gravel."
(Well, no I'm not really going to do any of that, but it makes me feel better to think about it.)
Why not just charge per pound of all luggage including carry on?
Actually not a bad idea.
BUT in reality the airlines are trying to cut down on ALL luggage. { Quicker loading and offloadings, less baggage handlers needed, less fuel needed, or they can haul more packages for air freight companies. ) And charging by weight just encourages some bags to still enter the system.
Well at this point, they should start charging passengers themselves by their weight.
They would actually like to do so.
But with all the tickets bought online and via telephone, there is no easy way to classify customers prior to ticket sales and I would lie and say I weighed 125 lbs if I got a cheaper ticket.
they're raising the fees on checked bags, good! Maybe the twits I see that travel with their entire living room sets will think twice about what they pack. The whole purpose of a vacation is to get away from all the crap you deal with daily, this includes excess crap you own. Travel light. You'll be happier.
You know how you can spot a Japanese tourist by seeing hinm snapping pictures away, even at the baggage claim? Well, you can spot an American traveler by the baby grand piano and the China hutch that she's lugging around, totally clueless about where to find the right terminal.
Why not charge the fat beast sitting next to me an extra $50.
This past weekend Delta lost my brothers luggage. LOST! After 4 days, still no luggage and still arguing with him about getting some sort of comp.
Best of all, refusing to refund the baggage fee as well. Wow. So he basically paid them extra money for the pleasure of buying new clothing.
Delta, We Love To Screw You... And It Shows!
Gas is going down Delta!
$3.69 some places in Maine!
Wasn't there an artical about how shipping your luggage to your destination is cheaper than checking it in the plane?
$125 Each? Might as well use UPS.. at least they lose less luggage.
@RabbitDinner: Check on sending your things to school using Greyhound. I did this and it was cheaper than any othe option, my stuff made it there ontime and in perfect condition.
If don't have any carry-ons for a flight, can I get a credit for the unused carry-on on the next flight, so that I could take 2 for free?
Are tickets retroactive? Meaning, if I bought a ticket before the fees increased or were even announced, can they still charge me once I show up at the airport after the fees go into effect?
As requested... I found this in a PDF on their Contract of Carriage page. [images.delta.com.edgesuite.net] Start at page 31 of 58. :)