United Introduces A “Carry-On Bag Fee” For Regular Folks
Airlines have carefully honed the art of charging customers fees over the past couple of decades. Long gone are the days when you could check a bag for free (unless you’re flying Southwest). Basic Economy was the most recent effort to charge customers more, with varying degrees of success.
Before airlines charged for checked bags there were fewer people carrying bags onboard. Nowadays, it’s the only way to avoid a fee for a bag. With planes flying more full it’s become harder to guarantee you can find space for your carry-on bag. This is especially true if you don’t have some sort of elite status or hold the airline’s credit card.
United Airlines already sells a “Premier Access” product that gets you expedited security screening and priority boarding. Now, they’re selling just Priority Boarding. If you don’t have elite status or a United credit card, that’s a bad thing for you.
Basic Economy reduced the number of bags in the overhead bins. But, I still see bags being gate-checked on most of my flights for lack of space.
United charges $25 for the first checked bag, $35 for the second and $100 for the third. Since priority boarding is as cheap as $9, smart folks will figure out it’s cheaper to bring a carry-on than check a bag if they can guarantee overhead bin space for the price of priority boarding. The more people who purchase priority boarding, the less likely groups 3 and 4 will be to have overhead bin space. Heck, it seems like more than half the plane is in groups 1 and 2 already.
The Final Two Pennies
I understand we’re in the age of airline fees. There’s always bound to be new ones. But, these fees erode the value of purchasing a regular ticket. One of the benefits of avoiding Basic Economy is getting space for your carry-on bag in an overhead bin. Fees like this new one make it less likely. The cheaper the fee is the more likely people will be to shrug and add it on.
Since there’s no other logical reason to get on an airplane early, customers buying priority boarding will make it harder for everyone else to find overhead bin space.
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that’s nonsense — usually gate checking a bag or checking a bag because the space is full does not result in a checked bag fee, if the bag was carry-on size to begin with and had been taken on the plane already.
Also, an early boarding fee is not a carry-on-bag-fee. Clickbait at its worst.
Clickbait. What are you even talking about?
Won’t be reading your blog anymore. United is not introducing a carryon bag fee, but rather allowing customers to purchase priority boarding. Call a spade a spade, and not something else!
“Allowing customers to purchase priority boarding”? While I’m very thankful that United would let everyone purchase priority boarding for such an affordable price, why else would you want to get on a United flight earlier other than for overhead bin space?
People with families and small children for one like to board as quickly as possible to get settled. But hey, that’s just my two cents. United has been selling priority boarding for the better part of the last decade. Did you just copy and paste Gary Leff’s Article or something?
Tony, I actually posted before Gary and he linked to me. So, I’m pretty sure I didn’t copy his article. 😉
United still allows families with small children to board early for free. Why would you pay for something they’re willing to give you for free?
Sorry to hear that. But, that spade is a carry-on fee. No other reason to board a United flight early when you’re sitting in coach.
Wow. Definition of clickbait. This is not a carry on bag fee. Just look at Spirit. No comparison.
WTF!!! Click bait post…lol!!
I got nervous that united had added a new fee…smh
Um, Ed. The article needs to match the title.
If you did your research, United said that this priority boarding fee cannot be purchased by customers in basic economy fares.
Jim, I did my research. I also didn’t claim that Basic Economy customers could purchase this. Just regular coach customers.