Airlines make our life easier once again… not

After a relatively calm travel summer, I started travelling again this week for a few days. As I was checking in through the self-service system in Montreal for US Airways, I was surprised not to be asked if I wanted to check any luggage. When I got to the counter, I was informed that this is because US Airways has a new policy where there is now a 15$ fee for the first piece of luggage you check in. Yes, you read that correctly. They are not charging you only for the second one or because your luggage is overweight. They are charging you for the very first piece of luggage that you want to check in!

Thankfully, my Elite status with the Star Alliance network waved these fees, but I can easily imagine how hectic it will get in the morning or at busy times when everyone is trying to get out on trips and have to stop to pay for this fee. Not only that, but a lot of people won’t want to pay the extra fee and will try to bring bigger and bigger items with them on the aircraft. From what I have seen in the six flights I took this week, this means more crowded overhead bins and people frustrated when there is no skycheck on some of the flights. If it does not fit on the plane, then they are stuck checking it.

US Airways is not the first airline doing this. I know that American started the festivities back in June, and now United and Continental joined, if not more airlines.

My next surprise came when they announced that beverages were no longer to be free on the plane. Not even water! So you need to pay 2$, cash only, if you want a regular drink, and 7$ for an alcoholic beverage. The lesson here is that you should now always bring something to drink on the plane. If we could at least bring our own water from home. But of course, as you know if you have traveled in the past two years, this is not allowed for security reasons. Therefore, you have no real choice but to put your money in someone’s pockets: the airline or the concession stands at the airport.

Personally, I wish they would just add 20$ to everyone’s airfare and just be done with it, let us check our luggage and give us something to drink on the darn plane. It would bring some order back into a situation that I feel will just get more and more chaotic.