Paying for overhead, oh no!

It has begun: carry-on bag fees. Spirit will begin charging for bags that will not fit under the seat:

Not a good trend; this will open the door for the rest of the carriers to do this. Click here for the fairly complicated policy. They’ll have fun enforcing it!

The free under-seat bag must be 16x14x12 or smaller.

USA Today Today in the Sky blog:

Basic carry-on items — things like a purse or laptop bag — can still be brought on for free, but only if they measure 16” by 14” by 12” and can fit underneath the seat in front of you. The carrier apparently will have new bag sizers at its gates to help enforce its policy,  The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Scott McCartney, The Middle Seat columnist at the Journal, explains what boarding will look like: “Passengers who have paid for carry-on bags will board first. Those that haven’t paid will be warned–their boarding pass will say ‘No Carry-On Bags.’ Once the first group has boarded, it will be easy for gate agents to police the fee rule during boarding, Spirit says.” Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza tells McCartney:  “After Zone 1 is on, there are no more carry-on bags. If you have one, you’ll have to pull out your credit card and pay at the gate.”

WSJ Middle Seat:

One advantage of fees for carry-on bags is that they’ll likely discourage fellow passengers from boarding planes like pack mules. Spirit’s chairman and chief executive, Ben Baldanza, says fees for checked baggage upset the balance between carry-on and checked items as passengers tried to avoid checked-baggage fees. The carry-on fee, he said, “will make our boarding faster and easier.”

Thanks, Ben. No, really - thanks alot. We all grant the “pack mule” problem, but there are rules to deal with that. Apparently enforcing rules is more attractive to the carriers when the penalty for violation is a hefty charge, er, profit.

—

(Thanks to Buzz for the tip on this one)

Update on April 7, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Three reasons we should be thankful for this? Maybe, if it really drove down ticket prices and emptied bins. My fear is it just opens wide a door that cannot be shut.

Comments

[Alan Birnbaum]

If you look at their prices for carry-on versus checked-in, it appears that they are trying to maximize revenue by creating a charge for the latter a bit less than the former. Frankly, I think it's time for the FAA to REQUIRE that all carriers allow passengers to bring without charge at least one bag of normal carry-on size, i.e., no larger than 22 x 14 x 10, either as carry-on, or as CHECK-IN. What we really need perhaps is for President Obama's mother-in-law to get charged by an airline...that will motive the government!

[Morfydd]

Huh. The TB Western Flyer doesn't fit under the seat according to their guidelines, though I imagine it would squish in ok. I'm thinking a lot of laptop bags are going to be hit with this.

That's a really slimy policy.

[Maria]

Now that that door has been opened by Spirit, it will not take long for all the other airlines to rush through it. Notice they list specific meaurements rather than linear overall. The "free" personal item lists at 16" x 14" x 12" , so a Tom Bihn Western Flyer at 18″ x 12″ x 7″ may technically fit under the seat, but not comply with their exact measurement. Just to note that I am a "two bagger" one-bagger. I usually carry a leather handbag along with my carry-on.

It may get to the point where it may be cheaper to send your bags ahead via Fed Ex or some sort of overnight delivery! Personally, I'd be tempted to do that just out of spite.

[Miguel Marcos]

Just to play devil's advocate here: A move like this might result in less carryon bags, facilitating both boarding and leaving the plane.

[Monte]

I wouldn't fly with these guys. Maybe its time to mount a letter writing program to our beloved congressmen/women and senators and complain about the nit-picking stuff that airlines do to annoy their customers. It might be time for Uncle Sam to step in on more issues other than tarmac waits. Here we are trying to get by with less luggage and the airlines are getting harder to live with.

[RichardB]

It gets worse!! This is a link to the USA Today article about the process Spirits is planning

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=86761.blog

[notmensa]

@Miguel Marcos
It might also result in less PAX on each flight - so even quicker boarding!

[Frank@OBOW]

Thanks Richard - link added to main post.

[Maria]

Yikes! Just read the article, Richard B - this is frightening stuff:

Scott McCartney, The Middle Seat columnist at the Journal, explains what boarding will look like: "Passengers who have paid for carry-on bags will board first. Those that haven't paid will be warned–their boarding pass will say 'No Carry-On Bags.' Once the first group has boarded, it will be easy for gate agents to police the fee rule during boarding, Spirit says." Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza tells McCartney: "After Zone 1 is on, there are no more carry-on bags. If you have one, you'll have to pull out your credit card and pay at the gate."

[Monte]

Now that I think about it, it might be more effective to write Spirit and tell them what jerks they are. I will be taking this approach this afternoon after I find out what the new made in US bag is.

[Alan]

Bastards!!

[Alan Birnbaum]

We should not kid ourselves. The PRIMARY motivation here for Spirit is "revenue enhancement."

I have a bag or two that might fit their criteria for "personal," mainly my Tumi expandable briefcase, and also a collapsible REI bag. Regardless, for packing CLOTHES without wrinkling them, the lower the dimension, the harder it gets. 18" is harder than 21", 16" is harder than 18", etc.

One SAFETY problem their policy may create is that people who board with, say, a 16" x 12" x 12" dufflebag, then stow it beneath the seat in front of them, once the flight gets underway likely will swivel it 90 degrees, to gain some footroom, with which the bag intrudes on the passage between seats. Actually, I don't know of anyone who makes a bag in quite those dimensions, not that it would be very difficult, and a bag of that size could take at least the smaller Eagle Creek shirt folder, among other contents in its 2300 cubic inches.

[Martin Molloy]

There is another airline I'll never fly again. Wow, what a bad, bad policy!

[Luke]

I might have an issue with the way that Spirit is measuring what they are calling underseat bags, but i don't have a problem with the policy at all. Time will only tell how the market will react, and how Spirit's bottomline is affected. Don't get the government involved, let the market speak.

I'd really like to see that airlines RAISE all of their prices, and just price the ticket to include all of those nickel and dime fees that they charge now.

[A. Tsai]

I love it. Ultimately I would like to see carryon bag fees far exceed checked bag fees. I like the policy that whatever fits under the seat in front of you is free-- that gives business roadwarriors and other light packers an out.

The problem is this:

a) giving passengers an incentive to check bags instead of carry them on board would decrease boarding time and make the boarding process more pleasant overall (no more people fighting for overhead space, no more people packing like mules, no more ridiculously oversized 'carry-ons', no more people in zone 4 getting pissed about having to gate-check their bags);

however,

b) airlines have an incentive to charge for checked bags, because whatever space is available can be used to ship freight. They have no similar incentive to charge for carryon bags (other than what I mentioned above about improving boarding time-- but that can easily be gamed by padding the schedule instead).

[Alan Birnbaum]

As one last comment on this dis-Spirit-ing move by an airline, of any passenger who might show up at the gate who could best roll with such restrictions, maybe it might be the father of my original carry-on bag, the MLC, Yvon Chouinard, who even though he might not be able to bring one of those along, could roll with the restriction, and walk on board saluting the flight attendant with the title of his autobiography, "Let My People Surf," everything packed in a bright yellow Patagonia Lightweight Travel Duffel:

"http://www.practicalhacks.com/2009/04/22/first-take-patagonia-lightweight-travel-duffel/"

[Alan Birnbaum]

Hmm...quotation marks and URL's don't mix; try:

http://www.practicalhacks.com/2009/04/22/first-take-patagonia-lightweight-travel-duffel/

[Alan Birnbaum]

and see also:

http://www.practicalhacks.com/2009/05/04/modding-the-patagonia-lightweight-travel-duffel-for-business-casual-travel/

I wouldn't mind getting the Patagonia to complement my Redoxx Air Boss, but like many Patagonia items, it's NOT cheap, particularly for what it is.

[Alan Birnbaum]

Reading the Spirit guidelines further, I would allow that my wife would LIKE them, because she feels constrained to check her bag due to the amount of items she routinely carries in her cosmetics kit that might preclude using a carry-on or roll-aboard bag. The Spirit guidelines particularly with payment in advance provide for a LOWER fee, initially $19, later $15, for a checked bag, compared to almost any other airline, not that I think any airline should be able to charge for a conforming size and weight first checked bag.