Secrets to Avoiding Paying Airline Bag Fees

Oct. 20, 2010 — -- Have you seen the new TV ad skewering airline bag fees? It features a smiling New York cabbie hustling his fares' luggage into the trunk of his taxi, then surprising them with a special charge. Some sample dialog:

Taxi Driver: "Just so you know, I need another $25 for putting the bag in the trunk."

Passenger #1: "No you don't."

Taxi Driver: "You know, carry-ons are free, but when you put it in the trunk..."

Passenger #2: "No, no, no, no, this is not right!"

Passenger #3: "Open your trunk, we're out of here."

No, it's not an ad from a passenger rights group; it's from JetBlue. The airline wants to be sure you know that they don't charge for a first checked bag. Interestingly, they haven't been promoting that freebie much until now.

Perhaps the carrier was weighing the advantages of the money a first checked-bag fee could bring in versus the good will and hopefully bigger market share that a non-fee would bring -- as demonstrated by Southwest.

For more air travel news and insights visit Rick's blog at: http://farecompare.com

Flying JetBlue or Southwest is one way to avoid a fee most travelers despise, and there are other fee-avoidance methods as well. In fact, you might be surprised at some of the companies who are begging for the privilege paying your bag fees. Yep, you heard right.

Checked-bag fees really add up; these days, many carriers charge $25 for the first bag and as much as $35 for a second -- and these prices are just one-way. So let's say a family of four each checks a bag -- that's $200 roundtrip. If the family is foolish enough to check two bags each, the cost of the trip jumps by $480. Now that's "staycation" territory, if you ask me.

But fear not; I'm here to help -- or least to let you know about your alternatives. It's up to you to decide if they will work for you.