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Are airlines that charge for checked luggage more responsible for your stuff?

July 8, 2008

Today’s number is 15.

As in $15, which is what American Airlines began charging passengers for the first checked bag, effective June 15.

Here’s another number: 39,213. That’s the how many bags American Airlines lost in May, the most recent month for which figures are available. That comes to a staggering 5.82 reports per 1,000 passengers, which makes it the most loss-prone major airline flying.

The worst? American Eagle, with 3,522 mishandled bags — an eye-popping 9.06 reports per 1,000 passengers.

I mention these numbers because several readers have wondered whether American and the two other airlines now charging for the first checked bag, US Airways and United Airlines, should be held to a higher level of accountability than the airlines that aren’t hitting passengers up for extra money.

It’s a question I raised a few weeks ago in my MSNBC column, and one that reader H. Walter Kuhl Jr. explored in a recent e-mail.

It would seem to me when an airline takes your bags from you, they create a bailment. Now, those airlines that are charging for all bags would seem to be a paid bailee and as such would and should be held to a higher standard of care than a gratuitous bailee.

A disclaimer: neither Kuhl nor I are lawyers. But common sense says we’re on to something here.

I think airlines should compensate the passenger more money for lost, stolen or delayed bags than an airline that doesn’t charge for carrying your luggage. Since they should be held to a higher standard of care than an gratuitous bailee airline, why should their compensation to the passenger be the same?

They took the passenger’s money for checking baggage and therefore should offer even better service and more compensation than passengers having their bags checked free.

Compensation for lost or stolen baggage is regulated by international law under the Montreal Convention. I’ve written about how the law is applied in a previous column.

There’s no question that if the airline is charging for luggage, it should pay you something — compensation, or at the very least a refund of the $15 — when your bag goes missing.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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24 comments

  • Bob

    I’m not sure you’re looking at this the right way. When you get right down to it, ALL airlines charge for checked luggage, but not all airlines include that charge in the ticket price.

    If you don’t believe me, walk up to your local Southwest (or any airline you believe to ship bags for free) check-in station, present a piece of luggage, and ask them to send it (but not you) to some other airport, free of charge. I’m guessing that you find out very quickly that I am correct. All airlines charge for baggage.

  • Mike

    Avoid it all, ship ground when time permits, overnight when necessary. Your luggage is at your hotel waiting for you. Move quickly through airports, onto and off of airplanes, and through ground transit.

  • Kevin Morgan

    Sorry, Bob, but this is not an exact comparison.

    Southwest makes it clear that you’re paying to fly YOU on the plane – and that if you wish, you may also bring up to two checked bags, not exceeding certain weight and size limitations. That doesn’t mean the airline is charging for baggage.

    Otherwise, when you and I both book tickets at the same time, paying the same fee, and you show up with 2 checked bags and I show up with none – then we’re paying two different fares.

    The situation you’re describing – shipping a bag without a passenger – is a cargo shipment, and as such is priced, and regulated, *entirely* differently. It’s not even an apples-to-oranges comparison – more like apples-to-canned cola.

  • Zac

    @ Bob:

    Your argument holds water until you look at it another way — one does not get a discount for flying without checked baggage.

    However, I agree with all previous sentiment that airlines charging *extra* definitely should be held to higher standards, as well as higher penalties when they screw up.

  • Bob

    Kevin-

    Of course it means that Southwest is charging for checked baggage. If checked baggage were free on Southwest, then why do I need to buy a ticket in order to check a bag? They just include up to two checked bags in the ticket price for the convenience of their customers.

    In your example, if we pay the same fee, how do you figure we’re paying different fees if I check luggage? That is not making any sense to me.

    All I’m saying is that the airlines that charge a per-bag fee will simply argue that they always charged for checked baggage, but included the charge in the fare. And that all they’re doing is unbundling the two so that passengers who do not wish to check baggage don’t have to pay for the privilege of checking luggage that they won’t use.

  • BriCo

    It seems that more and more people are holding airlines to standards which they don’t hold other companies. Restaurants charge for extra plates when sharing dinners. Many gas stations charge for air and water. Hotels charge you for a room, but tell you when you can get into it, when you must vacate it, and that they are not liable for anything stolen from it, even though they provide a locked door and key. Parking lots charge for parking in their lot, but “are not responsible for theft of contents, damage to your vehicle, or stolen vehicles”. Every service we use has some kind of disclaimer or “use/enter at your own risk” policy, even though we pay them for their service. Am I happy about all the new fees? NO! Do I think they are reasonable? YES! Why? Because they are still a bargain: water, soda, drinks, luggage, sandwiches, shipping luggage, etc. cost a WHOLE lot more outside the airplane. We need to be more objective and rational in our observations.

  • Bob

    Zac-

    Why is it necessary that a discount be offered if no bags are checked? Your ticket on Southwest (or which ever airline still bundles) includes 0-2 checked bags, 0-1 cans of soda, and 0-1 bags of pretzels.

    Next, are you going to argue that if you don’t use the lav then you should get a discount? Otherwise, you’re not paying for it?

    Well, you’re paying for it whether you use it or not. Same with the baggage. It’s just included with the cost of the ticket so you don’t have to break out a roll of quarters every time nature calls.

  • James

    What airline does BriCo work for?

    Restaurants charge for an extra plate because you are taking up a seat that would normally go to a full meal customer – you are depriving them of income. Gas stations started charging for air and water when states required them to provide for everyone, not just their customers – costing them more money. Hotels rent you a room for a specific period of time – not for eternity, just like you can’t stay on a plane for days after it’s landed. Parking lots are there to park, not protect your car – that’s why you have auto insurance. It would be a needless duplication of expenses. Talk about the need to be more objective and rational in our observations! BriCo needs to look in the mirror.

    Are these charges reasonable? It depends upon how you view things. If you think adding charges to make up for bad management is reasonable, then yes. If you think hiding charges in after-purchase surcharges is ethical, then yes. If you think using fuel costs as an excuse to add other unrelated surcharges, then yes. Wake up BriCo! Declaring that these charges are reasonable because they cost more outside the airplane is about as logical as saying Hannah Montana tickets from a scalper at $500 each is reasonable because they would cost more from a ticket agency. Either way, it’s a rip-off and a sign of a system way out of control.

  • Canadian Agent

    James – very true. It’s like saying “gas was so reasonable at $ 3.00 per gallon” when one is standing at the pumps buying it for say $4.00 per gallon. It’s absolutely not that the charges are “reasonable” at all but rather what people have allowed themselves to get used to as in BriCo’s case.

    Bob – 2 pieces of checked bags was always complimentary (aka as “free”) with airlines. At no time have I ever seen an airfare from an airline been broken down to include a specific amount charged for baggage. Could you expand and clarify which specific airlines have stated that baggage allowance was always included in the base airfare price prior to charging on a per bag basis? I’d be interested to know because I’ve never heard of that one before.

    Going back to the original story from Chris – I think if one is going to pay extra to have their luggage checked on a plane than the airline is definitely responsible for ensuring that the luggage gets to it’s destination on time and in one piece.

  • Lauren

    Maybe someone can help me. I started checking my bag (carry-on size) when the liquid ban went into effect. I have too many liquids, including prescriptions, to get through security. I’d much prefer to carry on, but with the liquid ban and now the checked bag fee, it’s damed if you do damned if you don’t. Any advice?

  • http://www.loganairportvaletparking.com Billy Bell

    Look I can not do anything about airlines charging extra fees for everything. But I did do something about parking fees at Boston’s Logan Airport. I started a co to provide real valet parking, by reservation only, for Logan customers. We meet customers right at the terminal door, store the car off site and return the car right back to the customer at the terminal door. Our web site is http://www.loganairportvaletparking.com We save customers at least $50 when parking for at least 168 hours. And you can not beat the convenience.

  • Joe Farrell

    I’m curious – have the airlines changed their contract of carriage yet to charge the fee? You know the baggage liability section has not been changed!

  • Carver Farrow

    i am an attorney of 10 years and I can absolutely state that Bob is 100 percent in his legal analysis. The definition of free means that there are no further obligations on the recipient in order to receive the supposedly “free” goods or services. For example, a city may have a free parking lot. I do not have to do anything in order to avail myself of the lot. I do not have to be a taxpayer, customer of any store, etc.

    By comparison, a hotel which offers “free” breakfast or “free” wi-fi is taking liberties with language. Walk into an Embassy Suites as a non-guest and try to get the “free breakfast”. While the hotel does not charge separately for the breakfast, you must be a registered (i.e. paying) guest, in order to obtain this “free” benefit. Therefore, it does not met the legal definition of “free” or gratutitous.

    Similarly, the airline ticket that you purchase comes with certain terms and conditions, all of which are factored into the fare. Whether you avail yourself of all of the benefits is of no import. Previously a coach class ticket included 2 pieces of checked luggage (under 50lbs) and one carryon. That is no longer the case.

    The correct term is unbundling. That means that rather than charging for a “bundle” of good and services, the airlines are choosing to charge for each item separately. But in both circumstances, they are charging.

  • Jasper

    @ Carver: I disagree with the term ‘unbundling’. That’s a marketing term designed to sound soft, reasonable and not-so-bad-at-all. Let’s use normal language and just call it what it is: a price increase. A rather large one actually.

  • Jake

    If this were truly the ‘unbundling’ of a charge long levied on consumers and rolled up into the fare paid, wouldn’t the base fares need to decrease by the same amount to reflect this simple ‘reallocation’ of charges? And since they didn’t, doesn’t this then fall into the situation that Chris described?

  • Carver Farrow

    @Jasper: You are correct. It is a price increase. My use of the term unbundling was not to imply otherwise.

  • Carver Farrow

    @Jake. That would be correct. However, As Jasper correctly pointed out, the airlines coupled the unbundling with a fare increase.

  • Sebastian Okser

    This comment will address the new baggage fees along with some of the other proposed fees by the airlines:

    If an airline has to charge me for my food, my water, my baggage then so be it. But make it worth my while. If you lose my bag then you should refund me my baggage fee along with a set amount of money instantly, not tomorrow, not next week but within minutes of me realizing that my bag is lost.

    Let me bring a sealed water bottle onto an aircraft and if not at least an empty bottle to fill up before boarding the plane. Since 9/11 security at the airports has reached a point where I feel its reasonable to call it excessive. After that day the TSA was created and it started to claim that we couldn’t have scissors, sharp objects or even contact lens solution in our carry on bags. Meanwhile in business and first class its a regular occurrence that passengers are given razor sharp steak knives. I fail to see the logic behind this as I’m sure a terrorist would be willing to spend the extra $2000 to get the knife without a risk of being caught if they’re intending on hijacking the plane. If a terrorist wants to hijack a plane, they will find a way. Even a pilot once told me that the security is ridiculous and that if someone is determined enough they are going to hijack the plane. In short, there will always be some risk, no matter what you do. Let me bring my own water, I’ll even take a sip in front of the security guard to show that its not a poison or an explosive. Not allowing this basic right is bordering extortion. You ask me to go on a plane with air that dehydrates passengers for up to 6 hours but don’t allow me to bring on my own water. I have no choice but to buy the water from the airline for an outrageous price.

    Thirdly, let me bring on my own food without security threatening to arrest me because that Turkey hero from Subway is looking a bit too suspicious. It’s a simple request.

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  • Craig

    Lauren – it may be too late to answer your question about your liquid medicine, but medicine is excluded from the 3oz limit. My daughter just flew last week and her liquid medicine passed through with just a simple question. Just make sure the prescription lable is still on it, or if it is an over-the-counter medicine, it must be in the original container with the proper lable.

    And to answer the “unbundling” question – yes, there was an airfare increase. In case you missed it, the airlines stated that airfare increases get to the point that people object and stop flying, but if you unbundle a service that is not used by everyone, then the airfare becomes acceptable.

  • http://www.wlliott.org Xanie

    Sebastian – My husband and I, my mother, brother, etc all travel with sandwiches or other food items from home and we bring our own (empty) water bottles to fill at water fountains once past security just so we are no hostage to the expensive, mediocre and generally unhealthy in-flight snacks on offer. We’ve not had any trouble so far…

    I do get crabby with people who glibly say to just use carry-on luggage – contact solution, hiking stick and various other things must be in checked bags for which you are charged.

  • http://www.stephenpickford.com Stephen Pickford

    If you paid your checked luggage fee with a credit card, and your bag is delayed or lost, immediately notify your credit company that the service was not provided by the retailer, i.e. carriage aboard Flight X, or delivery within X hours of stated arrival time, and saddle them with the bureaucratic paperwork of dealing with the banks. That will give a few Okies in Tulsa an AAwesome day.

  • http://Yahoo kenni Davies

    I recently flew at the end of December first on American Airlines then connected with mexicana Airlines and landed in Mexiico. I had three checked pieces of luggage, two I put on the plane for no extra charge but the third piece American Airlines charged me $100.00 for. It never arrived at my final destination with the other two pieces of luggage. It’s bad enough that many valuabe items were in this suitcase that can not be replaced, but the most important one is a cream medication that I take to prevent the recurrence of my breast cancer which I was diagnosed with in 2007. This medication is a cream and so not allowed in cary on luggage. It seems that the security rules are in violation of the traveler’s civil rights and when they interfere with a person’s health well, that goes too far. It’s really a shame. The airlines HAVE DONE NOTHING TO HELP ME, not found my luggage or it sems even bothered to look. I booked my reservation with Mexicana but the first carrier was American Airlines, there was one connection only. It doesn’t seem it would be so difficult for the third bag to get on the flight. Security rules border on extortion and criminal. Travelers are treated like they are the terrorists, when it seems to me that if someone wants to hijack a plane, they will find a way regardless of any regulations. As a result I will never fly on American Airlines or Mexicana ever again. Ever.

  • http://www.twc.ca/mp3 Stephen Pickford

    Kenni, since your ticket was sold by Mexicana, your contract of sale was with Mexicana. Hence, you should be taking Mexicana immediately to Small Claims Court. Let them try to pass the buck to American, but the ticket contract is based on who sold the transportation…and since Mexicana is a OneWorld-wannabe, they are tied to the hip with American hoping to be accepted, hoping beyond all hope. Of course, from my own experience, their lawyer will say he agrees with you and recommend an out-of-court settlement, and that will be the last you hear from them, as they dare you in a game of Airline Chicken to proceed to court thereafter. I, too, will never fly on Mexicana again. I was invited by the Cancun CVB on a media tour, and specifically told them that I would not visit their destination unless they placed me on a carrier other than Mexicana, and they agreed.

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