United doubles fee for 2nd checked bag

[pms4104]

Just mentioned on our local ABC news ... United is doubling its fee to $50 each way for the second checked bag. Apparently the increased fee will apply to tickets purchased starting tomorrow for travel on/after November.

 

Not yet on their website ... but I Googled, and it's showing up on various media outlets.

[pms4104]

Checked more carefully, and the announcement indeed is on United's website: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52481,00.html

[cruzegirl]

Unbelievable..... No surprise but with all going on and they double it? Won't find me as a passenger....lol......

[KLLund]

Perhaps they were heavily invested in Lehman Bros .............

[DocM3]

My husband and I will be flying on United to LAX(from Sacramento) on Sept 24th - We booked through Princess and prior to the new rates being issued on baggage. What I need to know is, Are we allowed one free (checked) bag each> I was going to carry these onboard but find that they are both a few inches over the 22" height requirement due to the wheels.

 

Thanks for your help.

[6rugrats]

My husband and I will be flying on United to LAX(from Sacramento) on Sept 24th - We booked through Princess and prior to the new rates being issued on baggage. What I need to know is, Are we allowed one free (checked) bag each> I was going to carry these onboard but find that they are both a few inches over the 22" height requirement due to the wheels.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

You can usually find answers to questions such as this by going directly to the airline's webpage. Here's the link that will allow you to find this information. I can't answer you, because I don't know when your tickets were booked:

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52810,00.html

[pms4104]

My husband and I will be flying on United to LAX(from Sacramento) on Sept 24th - We booked through Princess and prior to the new rates being issued on baggage. What I need to know is, Are we allowed one free (checked) bag each> I was going to carry these onboard but find that they are both a few inches over the 22" height requirement due to the wheels.

 

Thanks for your help.

I think the operable date as to whether you will be liable for checked bag fees, and at what $$$ level, is not when you booked air with Princess but when you actually were ticketed for your air treavel.

[G'ma]

Ding, ding, ding!

 

You are now free to roam around the country on Southwest....

 

No baggage fees, no phone reservation fees, free curbside checkin, no change fees on your ticket, no charge for snacks, no charge for window/aisle seats, best ontime performance in the industry, fewest complaints on baggage handling, only profitable airline flying....friendly staff, friendly cabin crew, user-friendly website.

[6rugrats]

Ding' date=' ding, ding!

 

You are now free to roam around the country on Southwest....

 

No baggage fees, no phone reservation fees, free curbside checkin, no change fees on your ticket, no charge for snacks, no charge for window/aisle seats, best ontime performance in the industry, fewest complaints on baggage handling, only profitable airline flying....friendly staff, friendly cabin crew, user-friendly website.[/quote']

 

I hereby nominate you for Southwest's offical mascot.

 

You could at least be accurate. Many airlines have a profit, not just Southwest:

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/fortune/custom_ranking_2008.jsp

[fbgd]

You are now free to roam around the country on Southwest....

 

No baggage fees' date=' no phone reservation fees, free curbside checkin, no change fees on your ticket, no charge for snacks, no charge for window/aisle seats, best ontime performance in the industry, fewest complaints on baggage handling, only profitable airline flying....[/quote']

 

Until the fuel hedges expire...

[SelectSys]

... United is doubling its fee to $50 each way for the second checked bag. Apparently the increased fee will apply to tickets purchased starting tomorrow for travel on/after November.

...

 

Well they needed to figure out a way to pay for all their fuel hedges that are under water to the tune of $500 million.

 

Once again UA management guesses wrong. See this link for more on airlines guessing wrong regarding fuel. It looks to me as if UA is the "biggest loser": http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-airlines-fuel,0,4944282.story

 

Meanwhile Southwest has played it cool and hasn't entered into any new contracts. From USA Today story printed in July -

 

"Southwest hasn't done a significant number of new hedging contracts since the first quarter of 2007, when crude oil briefly dipped below $50.

"We've not made a decision to stay out of the market now. We just haven't seen a good buying opportunity come up in more than a year," Topping says."

 

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2008-07-23-southwest-jet-fuel_N.htm

[ikelmay]

Ding' date=' ding, ding!

 

You are now free to roam around the country on Southwest....

 

No baggage fees, no phone reservation fees, free curbside checkin, no change fees on your ticket, no charge for snacks, no charge for window/aisle seats, best ontime performance in the industry, fewest complaints on baggage handling, only profitable airline flying....friendly staff, friendly cabin crew, user-friendly website.[/quote']

 

Do you own shares in Southwest? or do they simply pay you a retainer?

[pms4104]

delete

[pms4104]

Well they needed to figure out a way to pay for all their fuel hedges that are under water to the tune of $500 million.

 

Once again UA management guesses wrong. See this link for more on airlines guessing wrong regarding fuel. It looks to me as if UA is the "biggest loser": http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-airlines-fuel,0,4944282.story

And, if not enough pax decide to pay for a second checked bag, how then will Untied make up the red ink?

 

When this bag fee increase was announced in our local paper, Untied indicated the additonal $$$$$$$$ was to compensate for increased fuel costs ... and at the end of that very same item, an Untied spokesman stated that fuel costs were like half of what they were a year ago. In that item, there was no mention of hedging snafus (that came a day or so later) ... so the mixed messages really make the company and those steering it into the toilet look incredibly stupid.

[dclark]

UA must think people are dumber than they are. I look at the tickets prices on all the sites and before I gleefully whip out my CC, I factored in luggage fees. Afterall, I want to know my total cost of flying. They could charge $5 for a ticket and charge a mandatory $400 seat rental fee, but I wouldn't fall for that!

For me to travel one with UA and two checked bags, I'd have to include $65 for luggage EACH way!

[fbgd]

For me to travel one with UA and two checked bags, I'd have to include $65 for luggage EACH way!

 

How long are you travelling for?

 

I struggle to believe that for a cruise (since that's what most people on here are doing, right?) that you each need two checked pieces. Either your bags are really small or you need to pack more efficiently.

 

I emigrated with two suitcases (and I didn't ship anything) and my wife and I went travelling for three months earlier in the year and only needed two suitcases between us, and we were visiting a whole host of climates!

[dclark]

How long are you travelling for?

 

I struggle to believe that for a cruise (since that's what most people on here are doing, right?) that you each need two checked pieces. Either your bags are really small or you need to pack more efficiently.

 

I emigrated with two suitcases (and I didn't ship anything) and my wife and I went travelling for three months earlier in the year and only needed two suitcases between us, and we were visiting a whole host of climates!

 

On our last trip, my family of four traveled with five full size suitcases, one wardrobe bag and we each had our own carry on bag. We were gone for 17 days. For me, one my carry on is my camera bag. We got one refund from delta on one bag, waiting on the other (we booked before they charged for a 2nd bag.

It is easier said than done to travel with just one checked in bag. I travel with one pair of tennis shoes, one pair of dress shoes, my water shoes and the sandals that I wear at the airport- all those need room as does the two sets of snorkel equipment, sunscreen, shirts, shorts etc. Also, we didn't pack for 17 days, we packed for 7 and did laundry on ship.

On our next trip, we will try to get by with 4 or 5 suitcases for all of us as we will be gone for just 13 days.

[Globaliser]

UA must think people are dumber than they are. I look at the tickets prices on all the sites and before I gleefully whip out my CC, I factored in luggage fees. Afterall, I want to know my total cost of flying. They could charge $5 for a ticket and charge a mandatory $400 seat rental fee, but I wouldn't fall for that!

Unfortunately, the airlines know that plenty of people fall for it. That's why they do it.

[FlyerTalker]

No baggage fees' date=' no phone reservation fees, free curbside checkin, no change fees on your ticket, no charge for snacks, no charge for window/aisle seats, best ontime performance in the industry, fewest complaints on baggage handling, only profitable airline flying....friendly staff, friendly cabin crew, user-friendly website.[/quote']

 

No service to MSP, DSM, MKE, CVG, MEM, ATL, CLT, Hawaii or Alaska. No service to Canada. No international service. Service to NYC and BOS via very outlying airports.

 

No standby, no interline baggage, no tickets that can be endorsed, no reroute protections, no first class seating, no IFE, no assigned seating.

 

Sorry you forgot to include those in your previous posting (now included in the spirit of full disclosure)

[SelectSys]

And, if not enough pax decide to pay for a second checked bag, how then will Untied make up the red ink?

 

... so the mixed messages really make the company and those steering it into the toilet look incredibly stupid.

 

Who knows? UA's management seems to be just about the worst. I really can't see any signs of leadership or direction in anything they do. They always seem to be a step behind the times and are always playing catch up. I don't think that United's leadership has one ounce of creativity or understanding.

 

I can't imagine what it must be like to work at the company. The employees must be getting tons of totally BS propoganda about how the company is turning around while management makes mistake after mistakes:

 

1) buying fuel hedges at the peak

2) chasing mergers at the expense of operations

3) trying to charge passengers for food on international flights

4) TED

5) United Shuttle

...

[Globaliser]

No baggage fees' date=' no phone reservation fees, free curbside checkin, no change fees on your ticket, no charge for snacks, no charge for window/aisle seats, best ontime performance in the industry, fewest complaints on baggage handling, only profitable airline flying....friendly staff, friendly cabin crew, user-friendly website.[/quote']No service to MSP, DSM, MKE, CVG, MEM, ATL, CLT, Hawaii or Alaska. No service to Canada. No international service. Service to NYC and BOS via very outlying airports.

 

No standby, no interline baggage, no tickets that can be endorsed, no reroute protections, no first class seating, no IFE, no assigned seating.

 

Sorry you forgot to include those in your previous posting (now included in the spirit of full disclosure)

:D

 

One more that jumps out at me: No airport lounges.

[kitty9]

:D

 

One more that jumps out at me: No airport lounges.

 

 

Another note: Shabby treatment of the disabled. When I lived in Phoenix and flew Southwest quite a bit, they were absolutely terrible in giving early seating to the disabled. Even when using a walker or wheelchair, they wouldn't allow the disabled to board early in order to get the first few rows of seats. Letters to HQ did nothing to change the matter.

[FlyerTalker]

:D One more that jumps out at me: No airport lounges.

 

How could I have forgotten that....one of the great benefits of elite status or fare basis! Recently flew from a European airport where the departure gate area had a 767 and a 737 departing at the same time, both full. Only about 75 seats in the gate area. I can't describe how nice it was being able to wait in the lounge rather than fight for either a seat or a place to stand.

[Globaliser]

And absolutely invaluable for the majority of the long-haul flights that I do from London: work all day, haul out to the airport during (or just at the tail end of) rush hour. So nice to be able to have a shower and a change of clothes, and then to sit and relax with a glass of champagne for a bit before boarding the aircraft for the overnight flight.