Following in US Airways’ footsteps, United Airlines, starting May 14, is raising baggage fees to $20 for the first bag, and $30 for the second. Passengers who prepay baggage fees online, however, pay the current charges of $15 and $25.
Although actually, the airline was discounting the first bag recently to $11 if paid online.
There are still fee waivers for first and business class tickets, elite mileage members, and active duty military. No waivers for people who don’t have or use computers, though.
From United’s point of view, there are certainly advantages to collecting the fees up front. And it probably does speed things up at the airport – most of the time.
A few issues come to mind, however, as to why this may not be such a great thing for passengers.
First, United says that the fees are nonrefundable. So if a trip is canceled, that’s one more penalty often on top of a change fee. And that’s not even getting into what happens when the airline cancels flights. Even if they endorse a ticket to a competitor, will they cover the other airlines fees?
Next, how smoothly is this going to work? For example, will the system always have a record of the prepayment, especially if the passenger doesn’t have the receipt with them at the airport.
Or will they start charging passengers without receipts? Don’t laugh. Ryanair now has a 40 pound “boarding card reissue fee” for passengers who check in online and forget to bring their printout to the airport.
And as with most things, it’s often a fast trip down a slippery slope. Passengers already pay more to book tickets by phone. How long until it costs more to check-in at the airport, or to buy food and drink on board without a prepaid voucher?
And then there are all the little weird details. Will passengers who prepay fees online be able to give some sort of a voucher to curbside agents, before they pay the additional $2 fee for curbside check-in? Or would it show in their file if they already paid?
Will clients who pay for one bag and then find they need to check a second get the discount, or the airport price. What about third party credit cards? Currently, for airline tickets booked online, customers must show the credit card at the airport, unless it’s booked through a travel agent. Can a passenger use, say, a parent’s card, to prepay fees even if they don’t have that card with them?
I’ve asked the above questions to United reservations agents, and haven’t gotten clear answers. No doubt, these and other issues will get figured out as they go along.
And no doubt, this discount-penalty game will continue.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
