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Airlines Inch Closer To The Final Fee Frontier: Carry-On Bags

This article is more than 10 years old.

Will free carry-ons go the way of Northwest Airlines? (Photo credit: Ed Bierman via Flickr)

In the quest to charge passengers for every aspect of a plane ticket that used to be included in the basic fare, major airlines thus far have held back from assessing fees on carry-on bags.

Yes, a few smaller carriers such as Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant, have implemented various types of fees for carry-ons. The big airlines haven't rushed to join them. But as the New York Times reports this weekend, they've figured out a back door way to monetize those overhead bins.

They're doing so by charging for priority boarding, in other words, the right to get on the plane first. As the Times says, paying for priority boarding, or earning it by being an elite member of a frequent flier program, gives passengers first crack at overhead space.

Priority boarding has long been a privilege of those sitting in first or business class, families or "those needing a little extra time to get on the plane." (I know a frequent business traveler who would join the parents and children when they were called, even when he was traveling in coach. His excuse: "I need extra time away from everybody else who's about to get on the plane.")

Now, like everything else connected with air travel, it's up for sale. According to the Times,

Airlines say they are providing an option travelers want.

“It’s something our customers desire,” said an American Airlines spokesman, Matt Miller. Charlie Hobart, a United Airlines spokesman, said, “We’re always looking for ways to make travel more convenient for our customers.” United let customers pay for priority boarding before its merger with Continental and reintroduced it this year. “Customers did enjoy it when we had it” before the merger, Mr. Hobart said.

So, why don't the big airlines just take the plunge and charge for carry-ons? Given all the things people bring on board, from coolers to musical instruments to floral arrangements, carry-ons seem like a logical extension of the fee bonanza that reaped the world's airlines $27 billion in revenue last year.

Aviation consultant Robert W. Mann Jr. theorizes that charging for carry-ons would tick off the passengers that the airlines can least afford to antagonize: business travelers.

"I suspect what's keeping it at bay is trying not to agitate high fare/high revenue business travelers traveling only with briefcases, valet bags and laptops," Mann says. These high-end travelers won't check those, and probably wouldn't have to pay to bring them on board, assuming they have elite frequent flier status.

But Mann says these passengers would "react badly if a fee was charged for carry-on."

He also thinks the big airlines are wary of setting themselves apart from traditional low cost carriers like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways, who might refuse to follow the carry-on charge move. But if the airlines could somehow introduce carry-on fees simultaneously, in order to soften criticism against an individual carrier, Mann says they'd do so.

Such a step could raise eyebrows from the Transportation Department or the Department of Justice, and surely, there would be some consumer outcry.

That's why Christopher Elliott, the travel writer and consumer advocate, thinks the airlines' priority boarding tactic is actually a smart one. "People feel important when they board first, and will pay extra for it. They want to stake out room for their carry-on bag or for their elbows on the seat rests," he says.

Elliott believes the big carriers will look at other options before they put carry-on fees into effect, a move many experts think is inevitable. "I believe this is the final destination, charging for carry-on bags," he says.

Carry-on charges shouldn't be a problem, then, for people flying on major airlines this holiday season. But next year? It might be one more expense travelers have to consider.