Baggage fees rise as rules stiffen

There's plenty of grumbling these days among some passengers.
By DENIS HORGAN
HARTFORD COURANT
Planning to visit the distant family, arms and suitcases full of holiday gifts? Ho, ho, ho.
Check your ticket. The big, heavy $20 toy might cost you double that in baggage fees.
Maybe there's one person in a thousand who reads all the tiny type that goes with an airline ticket, but as the industry reels under skyrocketing fuel costs, more frequently the small print is being implemented.
And it can cost you.
"I've been flying for 30 years, and this is the first time I've ever paid an excess baggage fine," an annoyed passenger in the security line at Bradley International Airport grumbled recently.
He'd just been assessed $25 for exceeding the weight allowance. The airlines don't use the word fine for the extra levy, not considering the cost a punishment but a fee for exceeding the rules.
Get used to it, folks.
Tightening the rules
The airlines, under ferocious cost pressures, have tightened up application of long-existing weight and size rules on checked and carry-on baggage, rules many seasoned travelers have winked away as if crowding the highway speed limit by a few extra miles per hour.
"What we're doing is enforcing the rules as written," says Tim Wagner, spokesman for American Airlines. "At the check-in counter, maybe you'll be encouraged to shift some of the weight out of your luggage to your carry-on. But there's only so much we can do. Fifty pounds per bag ought to be a comfortable amount for most people, 100 pounds total."
People loading up with holiday gifts risk running into the Grinch in the tiny type, although Wagner sees the larger problem in people wrapping their gifts in advance and running into the airport security agents' need to search things.
"It seems that our frequent passengers and business travelers know what to expect," says Whitney Eichinger, regional manager for Southwest Airlines. "Leisure travelers may be surprised to discover the limits. But usually people are within the weight- and size-limit rules."
There have always been weight allowances, based on the early common-sense calculation that if the plane's too heavy it won't get off the ground. With powerful engines capable of powering nearly any weight, the calculation shifted to the quantity and cost of fuel needed to do the job. When the fuel cost rises so dramatically, something's got to give.
The rules change and can vary among airlines but generally a passenger flying a domestic route is allowed two pieces of checked baggage, with each piece not exceeding 50 pounds.
Four of the nation's economy carriers -- AirTran, JetBlue, Spirit and Southwest -- have a 70-pound limit per piece for domestic flights. Southwest is particularly lenient, allowing three 70-pound bags for free.
Outside the country
For international flights most U.S. carriers allow 70-pound limits per piece, which is generous compared with most international carriers that apply a 44-pound limit for coach passengers, 66 pounds for business and 88 pounds for first-class.
"People should read their ticket information carefully -- it's all available on the Web," American's Wagner notes. "Some Caribbean destinations like Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands are treated as if they are international locales and the allowance goes up to 70 pounds."
The fees can kick in with sharp effect after that. Again, details vary and are applied unevenly, but, commonly, checking extra bags for domestic links can be quite costly: There is an $80 levy for the first bag exceeding the limit, $105 for the second, third and fourth and $180 for each beyond that.
On top of that, oversize bags have their own fee. All airlines have nearly standard size allowances for bags, but larger pieces of luggage cost another $80 -- except for military duffel bags, which are counted as standard.
And on top of that, weight allowance fees can escalate: Generally, it is $25 for the first 20 pounds over the limit and $50 for anything over that. (US Airways has a flat $80 rate for anything overweight.) Bags weighing more than 100 pounds usually will not be accepted at all by any carrier.
The check-in folks might let you switch some poundage to carry-on but there's also a tightening of enforcement of the rules regarding what you can lug aboard the airplane yourself.
Again reflecting varying requirements, the standard practice is to allow one carry-on bag plus a personal item such as a purse, backpack, camera bag or computer. There are also weight (40 pounds, usually) and size limits on these, so carrying an anvil aboard to beat the checked-baggage limits won't work.
The airline's challenge for carry-on luggage is space. With more and more passengers bringing mini-suitcases, the overhead storage is soon exhausted. Additionally, heavy traffic airlines like Southwest want to get people in and out of the plane quickly -- and packing away and retrieving a ton of carry-on bags slows things.
"We are looking to get in and out in 25 minutes," Southwest's Eichinger says, "so the flow of carry-on's a factor. We end up checking a lot of items that are too big, or if there's no space. But mostly when people just plan it out in advance, everything works out well."
Independence Air, which uses smaller aircraft, has passengers check their carry-on bags, which might seem like a conflict of terms: With no overhead storage, they have a cart at planeside for carry-on bags. These are stored last and taken out first and await passengers as they disembark. The only downside is there is no access, of course, to the bags while in flight.
International flights generally have tighter rules with carry-on limits as low as 11 pounds (Malaysia Airline) or 14 pounds (Aer Lingus) to more commonly the high-teens and low-20-pound range.
So, although Santa Claus might not have to deal with baggage weight limits on his annual flight, the rest of us do.
Check the details.