hooray for competition!

"yay, US Air raised their fees, that means we can too!"

All the travel sites (travelocity, cheaptickets, priceline etc) should add an option to their search engine for how many bags you are checking, then calculate the ticket fees adding in the baggage surcharges.

This way, you know ahead of time (assuming the airlines don't change fees again) exactly how much you are paying when you book the flight.

$50?!? That's ridiculous! I wish there were more rules about these fees; how are consumers supposed to comparison shop for tickets if most of the price is added on in taxes and fees later?

I wonder if I could start a consulting firm helping people pack for trips. Up to one week = carry-on, up to three weeks = small duffle. What on earth are people taking with them?

Well, soon enough it'll be cheaper to:

A) Ship stuff over to your destination, or

B) Just save the bag fee and spend it on clothing and essentials when you arrive.

@Quill2006: part of it is just being a savvy consumer... the other part of it is the airlines trying to have the lowest posted prices, but then making money in fees

Then my next Frankfurt-Atlanta trip will definitely be with Lufthansa. No baggage fees, and they treat me like a person, not a $ sign (or, Euro, in their case)

Let me add that a fee for a second bag doesn't seem nearly as bad to me, because the airline should accommodate personal belongings, not trade goods and other freight.

I heard a woman the other day talking about how it is too expensive for her to go to certain trade shows now because she has to pay so much to take her samples and such along on the plane. The airline should have every right to charge more if they are providing a freight service to a business.

Oh awesome. Now I have a perfect excuse for not getting gifts for all those annoying relatives who never call me.

And I dont have to bring back all the crap my mom insists that I keep with me. Says I'll need these truck load of steel utensils "when you have a wife and all". Seriously woman, just stop it. At this point you are just adding insult to injury.

Not that I ever travel with AA or anything.

@FatLynn: for me, a week's worth of medical supplies occupies a box approx. 400 cu in

@citking: Unless you're going to China. I couldn't find any clothes there to fit me, and I'm only 6'.

Looks like next time I go I'll just have to wear all the clothes I want to take with me.

@TheWillow: Hooray for price fixing

@redskull: Russell Peters: Apparently, in China, I am Shaq O'Neil. How can you not find any clothes in china? Isnt everything made there??

Yet another legacy carrier that seems to want to drive itself out of business with all sorts of fees.

@FatLynn: That only works out that way if you are not carrying gifts, clothes for 5 different formal occasions and stuff you do not find here.

What would be the fee to ship 50 pounds of humanure on AA?

good for American Airlines. I say to American/United/Delta/Continental -- charge as many fees as you can, for as long as you can. The ease of comparing fares has led to passengers that are unwilling to pay even $1 more to stay with an airline -- recoup that somewhere else on people who are bringing the kitchen sink in their baggage, and manage to survive as a carrier that takes us to places we want to go.

Some of us don't want a world where we have to fly Southwest everywhere we go.

@FatLynn: How about packing for 4 months? When I moved overseas during school for study abroad I had two semi-filled suitcases with items to last me while there and enough room for bringing items back. If you're flying domestic or overseas and not staying for an extended period of time, then two bags is extreme, but if you're traveling for months at a time, then 2 suitcases worth of items is sometimes necessary to pack. (And no, I didn't have the option of buying most of my items in europe as clothes were more expensive and usually didn't fit me and basic school supplies and text books were sometimes three times the price than purchasing them on US soil.) Luckily then both bags were free when leaving and my counter agent watching my mother sob let me slide with one of my bags being 2 pounds heavier, but coming back I wasn't so lucky and have to pay a weight fee even after ditching most of my old clothes and leaving heavy items that I knew I would never use again in the US.

I wonder what India has in common with the other countries on that list, which are all European. Hooray for development?

@ohnoes: Or perhaps these are just the most popular AA international destinations, though I've never thought of Belgium as an international hotspot.

@LoveyH:

I totally agree. I fly to Europe twice a year and I used to use Delta. But now, their incredible fees made it ridiculously expensive. Heavy suitcase? That's $100. Want a drink on the flight? $3 please. Headphones? That'll cost you another $5. With Lufthansa all of those are fee free.

Now, granted, Lufthansa doesn't fly to my hometown (San Diego), but they do fly in and out of Los Angeles. The extra drive to L.A. is still worth the savings in all of the other junk fees charged by Delta.

@LoveyH:
Yup, last time my wife and I went to visit her family in Germany was in 2007 and we flew American, big mistake. The time before was Lufthansa great experiance. We are going again next year and already bought our tickets with Lufthansa. I would only fly a US based airline as a last resort. Friends don't let friends fly on US based airlines.

@MostlyHarmless:

Everything may be made there, but certainly not sold there.

@Cat_In_A_Hat: But are you not effectively asking American to be your moving company? And do they not have a right to charge extra for that?

@ohnoes: Well, I can only talk about my experience. When I went to India, there were so many families traveling compare to pleasure travelers. It seems to me everyone was bringing so many gifts with them. I have never seen so much baggage while waiting to check in. It was insane.
Also, people might come back with tons of fabric, saris and other stuff that are cheap over there. My friend bought a custom made suit while there. At the airport, they have this giant saran wrap thing that you can wrap your suitcase in case it is overstuffed. I have never seen anything like that before.
My husband and I went there and took one suitcase (medium size) for the two of us for a two week trip. Did laundry after one week and left clothes behind. We did not bring our best clothes, it would have been pointless.
I loved it and can't wait to go back.

Sounds like it's time for a new slogan for AA. How about "The Ugly American" ? Too bad Southwest doesn't fly overseas.

I've never checked any baggage. If I can't carry it with me, it doesn't come with me. Also, my Fiancee went to Japan for a few months a few years ago for studying abroad and she had a lot of stuff shipped instead of checking it.

I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like the idea of paying money to give my luggage to some people so they can steal from me.

Why is this targeted? Does the author and his community college-level skills realize that Continental, US Airways, Delta, Northwest and British Airways have instituted the same fees?

I guess now I'm going to book my international flights Japan Air and other non-domestic airline companies. If AA starts whining about lost revenue on this more lucrative sector of their business, you guys can blame yourself.

@Sodypop: I remember seeing the "saran wrap" thing that you're talking about on one of my previous trips. The only place I've seen it in the States is Miami International, though I'm sure they're deployed elsewhere.

But anyway, why fly AA when you can fly a dozen other airlines for a lot less or with better flights (e.g., Continental from EWR or Chicago direct to India?)

@FatLynn: i've done two weeks in europe with carry on - you just have to be too broke to buy souvenirs and be prepared to do laundry in the sink every couple of days.
but, that was before i had to haul all sort of medical supplies around so i imagine now it'd be a different story

@Sodypop: when my mom has an extended trip she ships back half her dirty laundry by ground/parcel when she is halfway through the trip. then she has lots of room for shopping.
took her dirty clothes three weeks to arrive from australia but it was way cheaper than overweight luggage fees and unpacking was lots easier, broken up like that

@LoveyH:
seriously Lufthansa is the shit, really any of those European carriers basically own any American airline. Planes with those little tv monitors in the seat, I was on one with $3 alcoholic beverages...how is that even real? Pop and food were FREE, no extra fees for bags, even allowed something like 50kg of weight per person. When we flew United to Hawaii...lol...fees for bags, food, blankets, drinks, $7 beers (mini bottles no less). Yea, I'll let capitalism naturally select those companies OUT.

@TD0gg: They can also blame themselves for a VERY shoddy business and first class product - ESPECIALLY on the SFO/LAX-NRT sector. It's slipshod whether you'll get a two- or three-class plane, and if you paid for first, and you're flying on a business and economy plane, then you're screwed out of money. Nobody seems to be complaining about that. I'd be bitching non-stop.

@TheWillow: Yep- they don't raise fees for other TPAC flights because of competition from Asian airlines.

Well, Damn. Something else to complain about now.

@FatLynn: They do. And for Trans-Pacific JAL/Korean/Singapore/most any Asian airline will gladly take their customers and be their moving company for no extra if they try that.

@LordofBacon: Not my clothes. Most of my over-sized clothes say "Made in Cambodia/Sri Lanka/Honduras/not China".

@narc1: See, if it was me I'd do back-to-back ticketing on JAL (American mainland)-(Tokyo)-(Hawaii)(and back) just to avoid that. But then again, I have good reason to- I also have shopping to do in Tokyo (new cellphone, new laptop, new anime DVDs, etc)

@kepler11: And I say let them crash and burn and I want more foreign competition than just Virgin America. I'd rather have JAL or Virgin be our "flag carrier" if it means the end of the current nickel-and-diming.

@mah4546: While countless other carriers have not.