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United Airlines to charge for first checked bag

United Airlines logo
Is this the end of free checked bags on U.S. flights? It’s starting to look that way as United Airlines said today that, starting Friday, it will charge most fliers $15 each way to check even one bag on domestic flights. United’s announcement came just three weeks after American Airlines became the first major U.S. carrier to announce such a fee, which it will start charging June 15.

Both airlines blamed the new charges on the soaring cost of fuel, which they said is forcing them to look for new revenue sources.

At United, the new charge will apply to flights that are booked Friday or later, for travel Aug. 18 or later. Charges for extra bags, overweight bags and items that require special handling will also go up, the airline said. So if you want to avoid the fees, book today or fly before Aug. 18.

United said frequent fliers with premier status, plus its first- and business-class customers won’t have to pay the new bag fee. The fee also won’t apply to international flights, except to Canada.

Like several other U.S. carriers, including American, United already charges for a second checked bag on domestic flights.

–Jane Engle, Assistant Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

[Image: United Airlines]

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 11:37 am by Jane Engle and is filed under Business Travel, Family & Kids, Frequent Flier, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

2 Comments on “United Airlines to charge for first checked bag”

Thank You United Says:
June 12th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Dear United,

Thank you for raising your fees. I felt like I was getting too good of a deal for all these years, but now you are finally taking steps to remedy this injustice; that I actually get stuff included in the price of a ticket.

Thank you again for your service in this matter,

PS. Or perhaps, maybe your profitability (or lack there of) is due to bloated labor contracts, poor service, and obsolete pricing techniques. Nah. It’s the fact that you weren’t charging $15 a bag. You solved the problem!
carolyn Moshier Says:
July 18th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I have a carry-on a purse and a gift (that is gift wrapped). Will I have to pay anything?

Carolyn Moshier