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Nope. I don't pay a dime extra to check a bag when I fly on either United or American (my usual airlines) as a free checked bag is a perk offered by their airline credit cards (both of which I have).
I avoid checking bags mostly to avoid seriously delayed/lost luggage and theft from checked bags (both of which I've experienced in the past).
For people who are infrequent travelers, it doesn't make sense to get a branded card. The annual fees on those cards make it so that you have to travel at least 2-3 times a year, needing to check a bag both ways, and having the branded airline be the same price or at least no more than the cost of the cheapest fare plus that airline's fee (of course assuming the cheaper airline one you would be willing to fly)
Don't confuse someone having what, for them, might be a superior experience with them thinking they are themselves "superior".
I think there are many people that think they are superior with statements like "Some of us have figured out how to pack." and " but I don't understand why people feel the need to bring so much crap with them when they travel." gives the impression that people who choose to bring more along are choosing an inferior way to pack. It's not only people here but there is the same sentiment in another travel group I belong to which considers carry on only to be the gold standard of traveling.
Overall my view is that yeah it is the easier way to travel but I'm not going to consider myself a failure if I don't make it down to a carry on bag.
I think there are many people that think they are superior with statements like "Some of us have figured out how to pack." and " but I don't understand why people feel the need to bring so much crap with them when they travel." gives the impression that people who choose to bring more along are choosing an inferior way to pack. It's not only people here but there is the same sentiment in another travel group I belong to which considers carry on only to be the gold standard of traveling.
Overall my view is that yeah it is the easier way to travel but I'm not going to consider myself a failure if I don't make it down to a carry on bag.
I don't think I'm superior, but I remain puzzled by people who have 17 page packing lists. Perhaps those who take offense see the truth in my statements and it causes them to feel inferior.
Frankly I don't care how anyone packs, as long as they don't complain about the well known in advance consequences of their actions like checked bag fees.
For people who are infrequent travelers, it doesn't make sense to get a branded card. The annual fees on those cards make it so that you have to travel at least 2-3 times a year, needing to check a bag both ways, and having the branded airline be the same price or at least no more than the cost of the cheapest fare plus that airline's fee (of course assuming the cheaper airline one you would be willing to fly)
Oh, I agree. I was just refuting Stan4's accusation that everyone who goes carryon only is doing so because they are a cheapskate. Since I do have those cards and therefore checking my bags costs me nothing extra, there must be another reason besides price that I frequently go carryon only.
You people act like you have carry on luggage when you actually have giant suitcases that you can barely stuff into the overhead compartments and would never actually fit into the little box they tell you to measure it by out at the gate.
Really makes me mad because it's just a ploy not to have to pay to check your luggage.
People did this selfish crap before the industry wide checked luggage fees went mainstream. It only just got worse. I'm amazed at what people think is carry-on.
The reason why I invested in my posh carry on is because the time will come at check-in, there will be stricter rules about what is actually a carry on. Who would have thought that we can't have liquids while going through security? Well, "carry on" luggage will be more scrutinized sooner or later.
The airlines may start charging us to take on a carry on. Imagine the money they'll haul in then.
Overall my view is that yeah it is the easier way to travel but I'm not going to consider myself a failure if I don't make it down to a carry on bag.
In some ways it's the easier way to travel. In other ways it's decidedly not. It's a hell of a lot quicker to just grab whatever clothes you want to take and shove then into a large a suitcase instead of spending lots of time trying to whittle down the load until it's carryon sized. And it's much nicer to walk through the airport carrying nothing more substantial than a small purse or briefcase. I know that at around the halfway point of my own upcoming trip a part of me is really, really going to wish I'd checked my bag instead of carrying it on. 14 pounds feels like 14 tons after you've been carrying it through the airport for a while. (In fact, I rescheduled that Global Entry interview I had mentioned earlier in this thread, precisely because I realized after looking at the MIA terminal map that I may not want to walk from one end of that airport and back again carrying a heavy personal item full of camera equipment and a heavy legal-sized non-wheeled carryon. I've rescheduled the interview for a Chicago trip where I won't have any significant luggage to content with.)
People should choose the packing solution that works for their own personal travel style and the sort of trip they are taking. But if they DO want to go carryon only, they should learn how to do it right. No bringing onboard oversized and overly heavy bags as carryons! That's not fair to the other passengers who do abide by the rules.
My carry on is 20" wheels to handle and is not expandable. It easily slips into a sizer box with room to spare. Some of us have figured out how to pack.
While my carry-on is expandable, even then it fits within the allowable limit. Boy Scouts/military-style packing has come in handy many times for me
People did this selfish crap before the industry wide checked luggage fees went mainstream. It only just got worse. I'm amazed at what people think is carry-on.
The reason why I invested in my posh carry on is because the time will come at check-in, there will be stricter rules about what is actually a carry on. Who would have thought that we can't have liquids while going through security? Well, "carry on" luggage will be more scrutinized sooner or later.
The airlines may start charging us to take on a carry on. Imagine the money they'll haul in then.
it's already like that for the extreme budget airlines like Spirit. $23 flights from MSP to Chicago but a carry on costs another 50 bucks...
I'm going to Copenhagen for $418 RT on Norwegian which has similar restrictions. Basically I am bringing a small briefcase sized bag filled with my laptop, socks, underwear and a t-shirt and boxers to sleep in.
it's already like that for the extreme budget airlines like Spirit. $23 flights from MSP to Chicago but a carry on costs another 50 bucks...
I'm going to Copenhagen for $418 RT on Norwegian which has similar restrictions. Basically I am bringing a small briefcase sized bag filled with my laptop, socks, underwear and a t-shirt and boxers to sleep in.
It will be interesting to see if having to pay a fee for anything other than a personal item catches on. I think that it may skirt up to the government rules of all mandatory fees needing to be included in the final price. In theory you don't have to bring anything other than a personal item but i think it would be difficult for someone traveling for more than one day to come in under their requirement.
I think it can be argued that you don't need anything other than a single personal item (medical devices excepted, of course) if you are checking a bag. But in that case, surely the cost of a single checked bag needs to be incorporated into the ticket price, as it's not really optional for most trips to not carry any extra clothes? Asking someone to pay a fee for both a checked bag AND a carryon seems unreasonable (at least to me). Pick one or the other, airlines! (I'd vote for free checked bag + carryon for a fee, myself.)
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