American Airlines Raises Checked Baggage Fees ... Again

American Airlines has been squeezing consumers out of money recently (although to be fair, what airline hasn't been trying to get more money for pedantic services?) vis a vis checked baggage charges.

I actually checked a bag for the first time in freaking forever when I went to Chicago two weeks ago and, well, good Lord: It's absolutely insane that you have to pay $15 to stow your bag in the belly of an airplane for which you have already paid $300 to fly on. Good news is, you won't have to pay $15 any more. Now it's $20!

Yup, that's right: an additional $5 per bag when you check your luggage. How wonderful. In case anyone's curious, yes, this is precisely what leads to that jerk behind you stuffing your bag further bag into the compartment with his "carry-on" which weighs roughly 600 pounds.

United States Airlines Collect $1.1 BILLION in Extra Baggage Fees in 2008

Bag checking is a dirty industry. There's no two ways about it -- if you're charging your consumer extra cash to bring their stuff with them then you shouldn't sleep at night. But it's not just a dirty industry ... it's also a billion dollar industry.

That's right -- US air carriers pocketed an absolutely obscene $1.1 BILLION in extra baggage fees in the 2008 year.

American Airlines led the way, earning $278 million in extra profit for checked baggage, with US Airways and Delta (not that) close behind at $187.1 and $177.1 million, respectively.

Of course, many economy-minded folks argue that it's wholly necessary for the airlines to charge these baggage fees; after all, they're facing a tough financial situation and need to recoup the losses incurred over the past 12 months.

I'm cool with that -- and to an extent, I don't think luggage charges are bad. My problem is that too often, airlines are charging for "standard" luggage. Southwest, for instance, allows two checked bags. That's "standard." If you're going on a trip for any reasonable length, you need to bags most of the time. Forcing people to pay simply to check reasonable amounts of luggage is just too aggressive for my tastes, even if it's worth a billion dollars.

Travel Gear: The Best Luggage Your Money Can Buy

Everyone always asks me how I pack for such long trips; a conversation that usually ends with shock when I say my travel companion is one standard roll-aboard. With airlines charging to check a bag, I have seen more people carrying on their luggage. My favorite roll-aboard is my Swissgear by Wenger, Lugano Collection 21” Expandable Pilot Case.

These days, I find myself traveling on more regional jets with smaller overhead bins resulting in carry-on bags being gate-checked. Luckily, my bag has held up every single time to the jostling, throwing, and stacking that carry-on bags endure in transit from the jetway to the cargo hold. It has a sturdy handle, two thick wheels, and plenty of pockets. My favorite feature is that it has an expandable zipper (perfect for when I pick up one too many souvenirs)!

The worst part is that I am not a good friend to my luggage. I drag them along cobblestone streets in Portugal, through the sandy shores of Honduras, and even on splash-prone boats across the bays of the Seychelles while reviewing hotels for ProfessionalTravelGuide.com. My bag has held up with hardly a problem.

I like to stuff my dress shirts in a jumbo Ziploc bag before sealing it tightly to keep them from wrinkling. All of my smaller items from socks to camera charger go in another Ziploc bag so that when I open my bag for airport security or on the train, the contents don’t go pouring out. Not terribly glamorous, but it’s a fail-safe tip to arriving organized and presentable.

Once while traveling on an unnamed airline, the baggage handlers managed to lodge a piece of metal into the wheel rendering it unusable. I dug up the 10-year warranty that came with the bag, contacted Swissgear, and voila, a new bag was on my doorstep.

I recommend this bag (which by the way, only cost me $69 at Target) to everyone who asks me. Not because I feel the need to become a traveling salesman, but because I believe that traveling should be more about taking in the sights and sounds of our exciting world rather than picking up undergarments from a rolling baggage claim!

President Bush Takes Action to Ease the Hassle of Turkey Day Travel

Interesting -- and extremely helpful -- news out of the White House relating to travel has emerged this week: President Bush plans on issuing some sort of stra-tegery type memorandums that should make getting where you need to go on Thanksgiving a whole heck of a lot easier.

The marquee item in his strategy for reducing air traffic congestion during the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons is the temporary opening of airspace typically dedicated to the military to commercial airliners. Last year, the Pentagon freed up two East Coast corridors during Thanksgiving; Bush said that was being expanded this year to also include the Mideast, the Southwest and the West Coast, including the skies around Los Angeles and Phoenix.

[...]A lot of our citizens are nervous about travel,” Bush said in remarks before hundreds of employees at the Department of Transportation. “They are saying ‘Will traveling home for the holidays be a wonderful life or will it be the nightmare before Christmas?”

Bad movie puns aside, that's tremendously helpful news ... you would think. Certainly more airspace = less congestion = more flights on time = more time nursing the gravy bowl. Right? Perhaps not.

A National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Really? There's one of those?) spokesman pointed out that all the huff and puff surrounding these announcements really only serves to make citizens think that there's a lot of efficiency being processed through the national travel network, when the reality is that it makes very little difference.