Extra Bag Fee Hits Trade Shows

(April 22, 2008 - New York Times) -- Five of the six major airlines in the United States plan to start charging coach passengers as much as $25 next month to check a second bag, the latest move in their quest to offset high fuel prices.

The new fee of $25 for a second bag is being levied by Continental, Delta, Northwest, United and US Airways. The low-fare carrier AirTran has announced that it will charge $10 for a second checked bag. Airlines have long levied fees for checking a third bag. Some carriers have recently increased those as well, and the fees on the major carriers now run as high as $100.

http://www.divetravelnewswire.com/sites/all/modules/fckeditor/fckeditor/...); background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-left: 18px; background-position: 0px 50%; ">But while the airlines, and even some industry specialists, say they expect the fees will primarily affect leisure travelers, business travelers beg to differ.

“For people traveling with samples or trade show materials, they’re going to find their costs are substantially higher,” an airline industry analyst, Robert Mann, said. “It’s really not limited to leisure travelers.”

Sue Fern, president of the conference-planning business Event Pro-SSSS, is urging the associations whose conferences she manages to switch from bulky handouts to CDs or small flash drives. Because association members generally have to pay their own way to and from these events, this will keep them from being saddled with an extra baggage fee on their return trips, she said.

“We’re seeing a bigger trend toward electronic transfer of information,” said Paul Kiewiet, management consultant and immediate past chairman of the Promotional Products Association International. “At P.P.A.I.’s expo in Las Vegas, we had several days of education and we went totally paperless.”

Mr. Kiewiet said he also expected that people who give business gifts, give-away specialty items, awards or knickknacks with logos would turn to pocket- or purse-size items. “From a promotional products standpoint, I think we’re seeing a resurgence in the smaller items such as writing instruments, journals or business card holders,” he said.

As the airlines struggle to stay in the black, charges for amenities formerly included in the ticket price are on the rise. Depending on the carrier, travelers now can wind up paying extra for everything from food to curbside check-in to bulkhead seats that offer extra legroom.

As for the extra-bag fee, even those who say they pack lightly for their trips foresee problems caused by price-sensitive fliers overfilling their carry-on bags and using large amounts of scarce overhead-bin space.

“The thing that scares me about this is that it’s just going to encourage people to lug more stuff onto the plane,” Mr. Mitchell said. “For those of us that have only one bag, if I don’t board early, there’s no place for my bag.”

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