PASSENGERS are being warned that they could soon have to pay more for their luggage – as airlines look for new ways to make money.
Currently, most airlines charge passengers for the luxury of checking in larger bags, or bringing more luggage into the cabin with them.
GettyAirlines could soon implement dynamic pricing for passengers’ luggage[/caption]
However, passengers are becoming more adept at getting around those costs, through clever hacks and packing methods.
But there are warnings that airlines are now trying newer methods to try and get more people to pay for their bags, including dynamic pricing.
That means there are no set fees for extra luggage and that each person will end up paying something different for their bags.
Aviation IT service provider Lufthansa Systems explained that, when using dynamic pricing, they will try and charge as much as possible for each request.
They said: “Dynamic means here that the prices for a booking request are calculated in real time by the system.
“In principle, prices can differ for each request. Hence, the passenger does not pay the same, fixed amount for extra baggage as is the case at most airlines at present.
“It is our task to determine revenue-optimal ancillary prices, that is, individual prices for every booking request such that the total revenue is maximised.”
There are warnings that airlines elsewhere could implement such fees in the near future.
John Breyault, vice president at the National Consumers League, told the Seattle Times: “It’s just a matter of time before we start seeing wider adoption of dynamic pricing on fees.”
John was reacting to a case in which a passenger claimed he was charged $500 (£411) by Thai Airways to bring an extra 18kg worth of luggage onto a plane.
Gregg Jaden told the publication that he was aware that his bag was oversized, and that he tried to pay for it in advance online, but said there was no option to do so.
He said: “I was forced to pay or miss my flight.”
Sun Online Travel has approached Thai Airways for comment.
Gregg isn’t the only passenger to have been annoyed by extra fees added on at the airport recently.
A group of women were flying with budget airline Frontier, who enforce a strict hand luggage size policy, and added £84 on for their “oversized bags” that clearly fit in the bag size checkers.
One of the passengers, Dyana Villa (@dyanavilla.tv) filmed as much of the dispute as she could, to show everyone how easily their bags fit in the size checkers.
The women are seen repeatedly taking it in turns to slide their bags into the “personal item” bag size checker, with no real difficulty.
However, the airline’s gate staff disputed it, with one clearly telling the women that they were “pushing” their bags down to make them fit.
A Frontier spokesperson told Sun Online Travel: “The video fails to show that the customer using the sizer box had an additional carry-on bag.
“Each customer is allowed one free personal item that must fit within the smaller sizer box. This customer had more than one bag and they were not able to combine them into a single bag that fit in the personal item box.”
Meanwhile, this woman dodged Ryanair’s hand luggage rules by sneaking a bag in under her coat.
And these Ryanair passengers were filmed snapping the wheels off their suitcases to make sure they fit.
GettyPassengers would not know how much extra they had to pay until they got to the airport[/caption] Read More