A Second Carry-on Item? That'll be $25, Please

The New York Times claims that soon, economy flyers will have to pay an extra $25 to bring a second carry-on item on airlines like Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, and US Airways. What? Supposedly the move is in an effort to offset the ever-growing fuel costs.

If you ask me, this is a bad move that will probably cause a major backlash from frequent flyers.

First of all, don't we wait long enough in lines at the airport? Now, for every person that has a second bag, we'll have to wait an extra few minutes while he pays his "fee". As The New York Times article points out as well, often times people traveling for business come back with an extra bag of work materials. In my case, for example, this second bag is typically filled with press kits, CDs, product samples, and perhaps a few swag T-shirts. Should the companies now be responsible for paying that extra $25 per person so each can return and do his job? From a consumer perspective, many people (OK, mainly women) often travel with an empty, extra bag to bring back all of their shopping goodies. So, for Canadians, on top of the taxes, we also have to pay $25 more just to bring the stuff we purchased onto the plane with us?

If you have to add more cost to a flight to cover fuel, build it into the final price quietly so that the average customer doesn't realize he's being dinged for it. To outright charge an extra fee to bring a second bag will just lead to a massive uproar.

In defense of the airlines, there's always the option to check that second bag. But I know plenty of people (OK, mostly guys) that pride themselves on traveling "light" with just carry-on: one bag will include a notebook and camera, and the other clothes and shoes. For these guys, traveling light just got $50 more expensive per trip!

Personally, when I'm traveling for business, I usually only have one bag that includes my notebook, digital camera, MP3 player, noise-canceling headphones, a novel, and maybe some magazines. Sometimes, I might also stuff an extra pair of clothes in there just in case (knock on wood) something should happen to my checked baggage. But I also have my purse. Will this be included in the extra $25 fee? I truly hope not. I will also certainly keep this new policy in mind when booking flights going forward. If the price differential between a flight with one of these airlines and another airline that doesn't charge for additional baggage is minimal (anything less than $25), then I'll go with the other, if for no other reason than to make a statement.

Some other bogus charges? Extra leg room is a personal favourite (give me a break), along with the $1 throwaway headphones. Does anyone ever buy those things?

Traveling on Business

Many jobs require frequent travel, and the publishing business is no exception. We’re often flying out of town for trade shows, press conferences, and other industry-related events. After going to CEDIA EXPO, and a few other conferences, over the last couple of months, I've observed a few irksome things about travel.

When traveling by plane, you’re sure to become annoyed at one thing or another: long lines at customs; being forced to take off your shoes; random baggage checks; not being able to take a bottle of water in your carry-on, and so on. But our experience went beyond these standard (but unfortunately necessary) annoyances.

Here’s the story: on the return flight from CEDIA, we noticed that the itinerary named two different airlines ("XX flight" in big letters "by YY"). As Murphy’s Law would have it, our driver insisted that he drop us off at airline XX, only to find out that we really should have been taken to airline YY’s check-in station. Needless to say, it wasn’t uncommon to hear a few expletives as we lugged our baggage across the airport. Why were two, active airlines named on the itinerary? And the incorrect one in larger, more prominent lettering, at that? Politics or not, there’s no need to confuse the traveler.

Once ready to check-in, my colleague was told he had to pay an additional fee because his suitcase was overweight. That was no big deal. But then the attendant added non-chalantly that if he split his things into two suitcases, he could avoid the extra cost. Huh? Apparently two bags that take up more room on a plane are better than one that’s slightly overweight. Needless to say, the expletives kept coming.

Of course the other part of business travel is the hotel stay which, for the most part in my experiences, has been wonderful. Many people these days stay in touch while traveling solely via handheld devices like a Blackberry, but someone like me who works predominantly online needs to stay connected on a full-blown notebook PC back in the room. I still can't believe that WiFi access isn't yet a standard free feature in hotels. I’ve stayed in some pretty fancy hotels, and could not believe that even they still make you pay $10 per day to log onto the ‘net. Haven’t we reached a point where Internet access is just as ubiquitous as a TV or clock radio?

I digress…