United Airlines offers door-to-door luggage delivery

United Airlines, which will soon raise checked-bag fees, is giving customers a pricier but convenient alternative: getting their luggage delivered overnight from their home or a FedEx station to their destination. The service, available only within the 48 contiguous U.S. states, costs $149 per bag each way for flights under 1,000 miles and $179 for longer flights.

In a news release this morning, United says it’s the first U.S. airline to jump into the growing luggage delivery business. It says its prices are “simple and more economical” than similar overnight services offered by shipping companies.

The upside: An online check of FedEx and Sports Express, among several such services, indicated United’s prices may in fact be lower. FedEx quoted about $200 and Sports Express more than $250 for standard overnight delivery of a 40-pound bag from the Westside of Los Angeles to New York City. Exact rates vary by weight, date, size and details of the shipment.

The downside: If you shipped that 40-pound bag further in advance, you would pay less than what United is charging — as little as $41.86 for FedEx ground service, which takes four business days.

Other downsides to United’s offer: You may need to wait hours for pickup (”generally between noon and 6 p.m.,” the release says; you can’t order an exact time), and arrange to have your hotel accept and store your bag. The service is not available on Sundays and holidays.

The verdict: Even with United’s higher fee for a second checked bag, which doubles to $50 for travel starting Nov. 10, its overnight delivery service is far more expensive than just putting your bags on the plane. But at least it saves you from schlepping your luggage around.

— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor

[Image: united.com]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 11:11 am by Jane Engle and is filed under Airline travel, Business Travel, 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.