<p>"AP-ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation’s third-largest carrier, will double its charge for checking a second bag on a domestic flight as part of a set of fee increases to help offset the high cost of fuel.</p>
<p>The Atlanta-based carrier said Tuesday that the changes will apply to customers who purchase a ticket on or after Thursday for travel on or after Aug. 5.</p>
<p>Fee changes include an increase from $25 to $50 to check a second bag for domestic travel. Fees for specialty items that require special handling, such as surfboards or ski equipment, will increase on domestic and international flights, Delta said…"</p>
<p>^^ charges for bags are pretty common in Europe now where they are strongly encouraging people to bring reusable bags to the grocery store. When I go to the UK and go shopping for my Mom I get really into the reusable bags and even brought some nice ones back with me. Then I end up back with the plastic bags because I am not sure how to use my own bags at those self service check outs or at some stores where they pack for you and have those carousels.</p>
<p>major UK grocery stores sell reusable bags that once they start wearing out you can exchange for free.</p>
<p>We recycle our plastic bags-- most go back to the supermarket, but some do, I confess, line trashcans. Maybe if stores paid a token amount for people to recycle plastic bags, they could get greater participation. </p>
<p>The luggage fee is getting painful and, IMO, the airlines should just raise fees instead of nickel and diming their customers. The latter seem to cause greater irritation. Call an agent on the phone and pay 10 bucks more. Want to reserve a seat at time of bookingthe flight? Pay $6 more. Want an isle or bulkhead- pay 10- $20 more. Bring your skis and pay some oversize luggage fee (haven’t ever paid such a fee yet, but this solidifies my decision not to buy new skis, but to rent at the slopes). I don’t want higher flight fees, but I think it is more palatable than these add-on fees all over the place (even if I don’t have extra luggage to check).</p>
<p>Regarding grocery bags, I’ve been in Germany for six years, and it was an easy adjustment to not use them. There are bags for sale, but it is rare to see anyone buy them. I use my own hand basket or canvas bag, and I keep a couple of those fold-up plastic crates in the trunk. I like the system very much. If I only need a few things, I put them in my own basket/bag as I’m shopping. If I’m buying a lot, I get a shopping cart, take items out to be scanned and then put them back in the cart, then push the cart to the car and transfer items to the crates. There are no baggers working in the stores here. Another thing that I like is that there are never shopping carts left in the parking lots. They’re kept locked together near the store entrance and you unlock your cart by inserting a euro coin, and you get the coin back when you return the cart).</p>
<p>But I am sorry to see these charges for checked bags! Unfortunately, I think it will just prompt people to try to take even more into the cabin.</p>
<p>^^^ Agreed, Renee. When I was on a flight a week or 2 ago, the amount of carry-on and the size of the carry-on was notable larger (on both fronts).</p>
<p>All they are doing is taking away services that were part of the service to begin with, and then charging to add it back in. As for the “paying for what you use”, I am in favor of charging oversized people for 2 seats if they dont fit into one. I know that is not politically correct, but it is along the same lines as mini’s comments.</p>
<p>well it turns out that bags much much bigger than the ones nominally allowed can fit into the overhead bins. really anything short of a really large suitcase will…</p>
<p>But Mini, the airlines must come to realize that there is a point of diminishing returns. For example, shippers like UPS and others may take airline customers’ money for transporting baggage. I suspect travelers may trust UPS more than the airlines if airline baggage fees exceed the fees charged by UPS and similar agents.</p>
<p>piterbizon-
Just because a bag <em>can</em> fit in the overhead compartment doesn’t mean the airlines will allow it on. They have their size restrictions. I also had a patient who had some big bag fall on her head from an overhead compartment. Not pretty.</p>
<p>So they are good businesspeople, and will figure out where the point of diminishing returns is. That’s what competition is all about. I doubt UPS can compete on same-date-and-time delivery at virtually any price.</p>
<p>If not, they will go bankrupt. So what else is new? Meanwhile I am flying coast-to-coast roundtrip to DC after Labor Day for $210 roundtrip - it hasn’t been this cheap in a decade.</p>
<p>“Just because a bag <em>can</em> fit in the overhead compartment doesn’t mean the airlines will allow it on. They have their size restrictions. I also had a patient who had some big bag fall on her head from an overhead compartment.”</p>
<p>never had problems–well last time I flew to France some airport worker tried to take it away at the gate but I whined to the crew and they let me on with it</p>
<p>A friend was traveling with her D this summer, and on the spur of the moment decided that since they were staying in the same hotel room, it would be easier to pack both their clothes in one big suitcase instead of 2 medium ones. When she got to the ticket counter, Delta charged her something like $80 because her bag was 8 lb over the 50 lb weight limit. She tried to argue that she had two tickets but only one suitcase, and so the limit should waived. She got nowhere, and had to pay the $80.</p>
<p>Frankly I think you can fit an awful lot into one 50 lb suitcase. The only time we’ve ever had more than one suitcase per person was when the kids were little and we used to pack one extra suitcase with bike helmets and roller blades. I guess Christmas travelers with gifts and students heading to college might need more than one suitcase, but for most vacation or business traveler a second suitcase seems unnecessary.</p>
<p>Edit: now that I re-read the OP, Delta’s going to charge even more than $50 for “special equipment” like skis??? I guess DH will be renting skis the next time he goes to Denver instead of bringing his own - it will be cheaper!</p>
<p>Re: Southwest. I just checked their webpage - it still says “Bags fly free”.</p>
<p>Re: plastic bags. I see no problem there (had to pay for a plastic bag a ta grocery store in Saint Petersburg), and I applaud our city’s decision (now if we can have more buses, I’d be doing a happy dance). If you buy a small item or a few things, you can carry them in your backpack or in a tote. If you buy lots of groceries, you are not going to carry them home but most likely you will load them into your car’s trunk. I’ve been shopping mostly at Costco, and they do not use any plastic bags (you can ask for a cardboard box, but then you have to deal with the empty box). I have a couple of crates in the back of my car where I load my “loot”. I unload the crates at home and put them back into the car for the next trip.</p>
<p>I have 5 of those re-usable bags the grocery stores sell for $1 each. I put them back in the trunk when I’m done unloading the groceries. I’m finally remembering to bring them into the store, I used to forget and leave them in the trunk!</p>
<p>I’m waiting for the day when all grocery items will have RFID tags so the entire shopping cart can be “scanned” at once instead of each individual item going through a barcode reader.</p>