When airlines began charging to check bags, they also ushered in the era of "gate lice." That's modern slang for people who jockey for early boarding to their flights in order to score valuable storage space on the plane and save a buck. Regular flyers know that carry-on size limits can vary wildly, especially on…
Frontier Airlines took a swipe at Southwest Airlines ' plan to start charging for seat assignments and checked luggage by doing the opposite. Budget carrier Frontier said customers can receive a bundle that includes a seat assignment and a carry-on bag without an upcharge if they book Tuesday through March 24…
Ground operations employees load baggage onto a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft on the tarmac at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California. Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images It's happening: Southwest Airlines will start charging passengers to check bags for the first time. It's a stunning reversal that shows…
Your carry-on hand baggage may not be small enough anymore. A new furor is unfolding in the skies as airlines are caught drastically reducing the maximum permitted size of carry-on bags on commercial flights. Unnoticed by many casual travelers, the volume of an allowed carry-on bag on some popular airlines has been cut as much…
Every budget-minded air passenger in the United States already knows that longtime no-frills kingpin Southwest Airlines is in bad trouble. The list of woes is daunting: Repeated operational meltdowns forcing the cancellation of thousands of flights at a time, including in peak holiday season. A heightened safety review by the FAA following several near-miss incidents…
What's the point of having "competition" among airlines if they all raise prices in lockstep? Perhaps United Airlines believed that it could minimize news coverage of the deed by announcing it on a Friday. But we caught it: The airline has hiked baggage fees for all flights in North America, from $35 to $40. That's…
In today's installment of The Internet May Be Destroying Society, but Hey, You Should Totally Check Out This Video, someone put a camera on luggage to show were it goes after airport check-in. On March 21, local TV station WDIV in Detroit posted this invigorating 7-minute video of a piece of checked baggage as it…