Thanks for the heads up, just to clarify, according to the article they are charging $25 to check a second piece of luggage.

"Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, the world's second-largest carrier, will boost income by charging some passengers $25 to check a second piece of luggage."

That still really sucks though :(

Just to speculate a little - I'm kind of wondering how long the airlines can stay afloat. Travel by air is a torture, it's the only business I can think of off the top of my head that actively abuses it's customers. I can't imagine the costs of flying are going to come down... probably ever, and I don't think oil is going to get any cheaper. Not to mention the financial indicators for 2008 don't look to great...

I'm worried because I fly for business about once or twice a month and if flying finally gets to expensive that work is going away.

Also a quick anecdote; I just spent 4 days shooting a bunch of product demos at a major sportswear company. They would normally fly their head product folks out to do this stuff in person but this year they are mailing DVD's. I guess the upside is if people are flying less, they are going to need more video work.

Not encouraging news, especially after the battery thing...

The airline industry is famous for their "herd" instinct. If there is any negative press on the extra charge, United will quickly step back to be in line with the other carriers. If no one cares, the others will adopt the same policy, with perhaps the exception of a maverick like Southwest.

In this case I think there will be a lot of bad press.

Airlines are getting slammed with increased costs, primarily fuel. I don't think this new rule is about increasing profit as it is just remaining in business. The U.S. economy is sucking on all fronts, this is just one more case.

There is an entire website devoted to problems with United Airlines called
UNTIED.

In 2005 United Airlines tried to shed it's pension responsibilities to it's employees dumping the responsibility on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation rather than make good on it's promises to them. The Bush administration's flawed plan to shore up the PBGC was to raise premiums from $19 to $30 per employee threatening to accelerate the demise of defined benefit plans to the detriment of American workers.
That forced responsible companies that funded their systems responsibly to subsidize irresponsible companies such as United.
Pensions aren't "welfare". They are negotiated reductions in pay "now" with the promise of security "tomorrow".

Other airlines followed suit in 2005 to shed their pension responsibilities.

In 2006 The Republican majority in the US House obstructed a pension reform bill in order to advance their failed Social Security privatization plan. They blocked it in committee so it wouldn't come to the House Floor. They insisted that pension reform had to be tied to a privatization of Social Security. They called it "retirement security". They commonly name bills the opposite of their intent.

Last June American Airlines pulled a similar stunt with it's employee's pensions.

With pension abdication being a government supported phenomenon it isn't any wonder that some airline customers get poor service. Of course with the help of the US news media, they have managed to blame the problems on the same excuse they use for every problem - September 11.

John

The thing I don't understand is why Amtrak is still in business considering it's poor reputation. I know of someone took the train that was supposed to take approx 18 hours to travel a little over 600 miles!!! By Spanish standards, that would take approx 3 hours - that is pathetic on Amtrak's part.

The U.S. has a pretty extensive rail infrastructure already in place so why is it so difficult for passenger rail service to be reliable?

This article points to what Spain is doing and it sounds as though they are giving air travel a serious run for their money.

For regional travel - rail would be more cost effective - but only if it were reliable and faster - neither of which describes rail travel in the U.S. currently.

The U.S. could learn a thing or two from the European rail system.

Cliff Etzel - Solo Video Journalist
bluprojekt

going 200 mph on a rail system in the US , track set in 1930 if lucky ,,, no thanks

and on the air thing 25 dollars aint too bad imo for an extra bag , I have never checked more than my one rolling giant bag... any equipment I ship fedex to my destination ahead of me,,,,

going 200 mph on a rail system in the US , track set in 1930 if lucky ,,, no thanks
============
We have a systematically crumbling infrastructure in the US due to budget cuts and diversion of funds since January of 2001. Currently we are spending $15 billion a month on Iraq with zero accountability and obstructing children's health care bills to "save money". To fund the Iraq fiasco the only means of funding Republicans won't filibuster in the Senate is borrowing the money from countries like China and passing the bill along to our next generation to pay back.
Currently the federal deficit (created entirely since 2001) is at $9.2 trillion.

John

I wasn't going to point a finger at the cause of the U.S. economy being in such a mess, but it is absolutely undeniable that the current administration is pretty much entirely to blame. As of today, the Bush administration has another 350 days in office, no telling what sort of havoc they can cause in the time remaining.

So here's the message I received from United:

"As of February 4, 2008, United has a new checked baggage policy. Non-elite Mileage Plus® members and non-members traveling on non-refundable Economy tickets within the United States, Canada and U.S. territories, may check one bag for free and a second for a $25 fee. The new policy applies to tickets purchased beginning February 4, 2008 for travel on or after May 5, 2008."

Apparently this is for "checked" luggage not carry on luggage. I have a feeling the other major carriers will follow suit. If you have "elite" status on the airlines, the free baggage allowances are more liberal.

Interesting this has come up because here in Canada it was just ruled that large sized passengers can only be charged for ONE seat instead of the normal 2 that was being charged. Of course the airlines will figure out some other way of retrieving the money.

What am I missing? I've only ever been allowed one bag free. A second bag went on a per-pund basis. (Last time my wife had 2, and the second cost almost $100)

$25 buck sounds like a deal to me.

This is pretty normal for the no frills international carriers, you can pay for ANY luggage. And inflight food etc. If you do the maths a flight on a discount airline can end up costing you more than a regular airline.

Also if you check their terms and conditions you'll discover that if your flight is delayed they take no responsibility for your plight. Which might be sort of OK in some airports. Except Sydney airport closes at night. So a few days ago over 100 unlucky souls whose Jetstar flight was delayed until the following day were herded outside the terminal and the doors closed behind them. Just to add to their woes it was unseasonaly cold and raining.

Bob.