Dive Brief:
- Customers may feel the hit of checking a bag on their next Delta flight after the airline raised its first checked domestic bag fee 17% in March.
- Domestic baggage will now cost $35, up from $30, according to the airline’s website. Delta is charging $45 for a second bag, up from $40.
- Delta’s move to raise bag fees makes it the third major carrier to increase bag fees. American and United raised luggage fees in February.
Dive Insight:
Airlines are raising luggage fees at the same time customers are concerned about rising travel costs.
Nearly three-quarters of customers said that rising costs will impact their travel plans this year or next, according to a survey by arrivia.
But Delta said increased baggage fees will help the airline keep up with rising industry costs, according to NBC News. Other airlines cited similar reasons for cost increases.
“American and other carriers are raising bag fees explicitly because their costs are going up. JetBlue even blamed higher prices directly for the increased fees,” Clint Henderson, managing editor of The Points Guy, told CX Dive in an email. “Airlines have negotiated generous new pay packages for their pilots, flight attendants and other workers. Fuel prices have risen and so have prices for things like jets and for maintenance.”
Airlines can also save money on taxes by charging more for bag fees. Ancillaries aren’t subject to the federal excise tax rate.
As checked bag prices rise, more customers are likely to try to bring carry-on luggage, Henderson said.
That could slow down the boarding process as passengers try to cram more stuff into the already cramped overhead bins.
It could also lead to more airlines looking to charge carry-on fees.
“We’ve seen low-cost carriers like Frontier crackdown on carry-ons, checking the sizes and charging customers outrageous prices to check bags at the gate,” Henderson said. “I expect more airlines to start charging for carry-on bags in the future, though not immediately.”
After United and American Airlines raised bag fees, Katy Nastro, a travel expert at Going, previously told CX Dive that airlines have to be “careful not to ruffle too many feathers” with extra fees, lest they lose customers.
