Allegiant Air Commits To Angering Customers By Charging For Overhead Bin Space

If you’re thinking of booking a flight on Allegiant Air on Wednesday or later, you might want to think about what you’ll be carrying on. The airline announced they’ll now be charging passengers $35 to stow bags in the overhead bin.

The Associated Press (via MSN Money) cites spokesman Brian Davis, who says passengers who pay online when booking their fares will pay less, but that lower price hasn’t been determined yet.

Of course, you’ll still get your one personal bag to fit under the seat — for free! Imagine that. Now just try packing everything you need for a trip in your laptop bag.

Allegiant isn’t a super-sized carrier, heading to mostly to vacation spots like Orlando and Las Vegas, and so though it does tout lower fares, there has to be a way to make up that money. Hence, charge for services like early boarding and checking bags — and now, bringing almost any bag.

Maybe they’re trying to make up for the $100K they lost in fines February, when they ran afoul of new Department of Transportation rules regarding air travel. At that time, the rules were in effect for less than a month when Allegiant went rogue, posting “free” flights without noting any taxes or other additional fees in the promotion.

We don’t envy Allegiant the barrage of customer complaints they’ve got coming. As one tipster wrote regarding the news: “I filled out their contact form online and told them if they do this, I will not ever fly their airline again. I said, ‘Please rethink this.’ “

Allegiant to charge passengers for using bin space [MSN]

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