United Airlines is offering 20% off the 1st checked bag fee if you check-in online and pay the fee at United’s Web site (www.united.com) before January 31, 2009. They've also decided not to double the 2nd check bag fee as previously planned. [Cheapflights]
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Although I hate the 1st checked bag fee, it's nice to see some sort of discount from an airline for once, instead of just steadily increasing fees.
This simply shows that their baggage fee is not working the way they hoped. People are probably not checking in baggage and this is a way to try to generate some revenue by announcing this special offer. We are talking what, $20 instead of $25? Still $20 too expensive.
How big of them.
Let these bailout-funded airlines fall into a cloud of bankruptcy and die. Then let either new companies emerge, or foreign carriers with better service take over.
If you think about it, the only fair way to both passengers and airlines is to charge for air travel with a base fixed charge per passenger and a base fixed charge for each piece of checked baggage to cover fixed costs such as payroll and the cost of the fleet plus a charge per unit of weight for
the passenger and bags to cover variable costs, primarily fuel. Why should someone who weighs 85 pounds pay the same as someone who weighs 185 pounds when a good deal of the cost of transport is directly related to weight?
I got an idea. How about they don't charge for bags at all? Until then, I will take my business to southwest.
@badgeman46: Not everyone except Southwest charges for one bag.
Alaska
Delta
JetBlue
Midwest
Virgin
All have $0 first bag fee.
Cut to 2010: United offering 15 percent off in-flight tap water.
How nice. I checked in online a couple of weeks ago when I went home for a funeral. Still bent over and paid the full fee.
Wow, that's great! Way to go, United -- thanks for saving us some money on fees!!!
In related news, United is now offering crappy service at a higher price..
It's not removing the ridiculous baggage charge, it's not $20 off...it's 20% off of what, a $15 fee? $25? So they're giving you less than $5 *explicative* dollars off of a scandalous charge in the first place. I guess I thought that fuel prices were dropping precipitously...funny I don't see airlines(or any other industry) pricing in this readjustment.
You'll have to forgive me but I'm not going to wave my big foam #1 hand in the air on this one.
United Airlines? They have only went bankrupt about 12 times in the past decade.
At Ohare they have a seprate counter for people who checked in online. It used to be great I would get in and out in no time, now everyone checks in online and the line is often as long if not longer as the "regular" counter.
Ack, now you tell me! (I'm catching up on my Consumerist posts). Just got back yesterday from a week in Florida and paid $15/bag going and coming back. At least they make it easy with credit cards at the kiosk. :O
I like that idea - discount for checking in online - hopefully then they have a special kiosk to check bags for people who checked in online (so you don't have to wait in the big line again like with southwest)....