Delta and American Increase Checked Bag Fees
Delta and American Airlines announced a few days ago that they will raise fees for checked bags. Both airlines will be increasing fees by $5 for the first and second checked bags. The move follows a similar price hike by United and JetBlue.
With the increased fee, customers will now pay $30 (up from $25) for the first checked bag and $40 (up from $35) for the second. The new pricing has already gone into effect for both airlines.
Bag fees have become big business for U.S. airlines since they started charging them back in 2008 during the recession and oil price spike. Before that, the only bag fee charges were for excess bags and overweight and oversized bags.
Southwest is the only holdout. The nation’s largest domestic carrier allows two free checked bags. Alaska Airlines, the nation’s fifth largest carrier still has the old pricing of $25 each for the first and second bag.
Conclusion
As Mark predicted in his post, Delta and American has also increased checked bag fees. They are trying to squeeze any profit possible from travelers. Obviously there’s still ways to get free checked bags through Elite status, credit cards or if you’re flying in Business class, but the casual traveler will likely have to pay up $5 more.
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