American Airlines has done it again.
Last month they (and most other airlines) reported that they would be charging $25 for the second bag checked by each passenger. Now, The Dallas Morning News reports that American will be charging for every bag checked, at $15 a pop. Traveling with two kids, all their crap, at least one carseat and one stroller - flying is quickly becoming an expensive activity for us. (As if it wasn’t expensive already!)
But wait! There are ways to save a little on checking your bags.
Pack light. You should already be doing this anyway. But just in case you’re not – think about what you REALLY need when you’re packing. Do you really need four pairs of shoes? If you’re trying to match your outfits, choose ones that will go with two or even just one pair of shoes. Pack, at most, three outfits per person and just plan to wash while you’re there. (If your trip is more than a week long, maybe you can pack five. Maybe.) If you’re visiting relatives, ask to use their washer and dryer. If no family is nearby, locate the closest laundromat, or drop it off at a local cleaner’s. (The charge for laundry is surprisingly low at most places. Check it out.)
Ship. Put the heaviest stuff, like sneakers, in your carry-on bag. (Leave room in the carry-on for those few necessities you might need if you were to be stranded at your layover. I’m talking about stuff like prescription medication and baby formula. Trust me on this. I’ve been there.) Pack the lighter stuff, like shirts, in a sturdy cardboard box – and MAIL IT to your destination using USPS’ Parcel Post service. It’s their most economical service, but it’s also one of their slowest. So plan ahead and send early. Use the USPS online postage calculator to estimate how long it will take, and add a day or two just to be sure. For example, the calculator says it would take five days to ship a box from my house in Texas to my mom’s place in Alabama. I’d mail mine 7 days ahead. A 5-pound box, which would hold most of the clothes my family would need, costs almost $9 to ship. If you take into consideration that three of us would be ticketed passengers – and thus have the right to a carry-on bag - the carry-ons plus the mailed box would be more than enough room for our stuff. If your final destination is a hotel, call the hotel ahead of time, tell them when you’re arriving, and let them know your boxes will be showing up. Ask them for the best mailing address to use – sometimes it’s not the one on the website.
Borrow and buy when you get there. Rather than larding down your carry-on with bottles of shampoo and lotion that will probably leak anyway, just wait till you get there to buy your toiletries. A 97-cent bottle of Suave and a single bar of soap, shared by the whole family, will probably last a week or more. Or, if you’re staying at someone’s house and you’re close to them, just ask to borrow what they have. Exceptions: toothbrushes, deodorant and (ahem) menstrual products. Buy or bring your own.
Perhaps if more people followed this advice and declined to pay American the $15 fee, they would retract it, or find other ways of cutting costs without dipping into their customers’ pocketbooks.
Update: A person on a message board that I belong to posited an unusual, yet logical, solution to help reduce the cost of luggage: Wear as many clothes as you can on the plane. Layer two tank tops, wear shorts under your jeans, et cetera. No, it won’t be as comfortable, especially in summer months, but if you’re on a short flight, it’s an option.
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