Planning to check two bags on your next flight to London, Rome or Paris? Pay up. In a little-publicized trend, airlines are cracking down on transatlantic luggage, dinging coach fliers $50 or more each way for a second checked bag -- about twice the going rate of domestic flights.
By Thanksgiving, four of the five airlines that fly nonstop between LAX and London, for instance, will be charging the new fee. Only Air New Zealand, as of last week, was still honoring the treasured two-bag tradition on that route, with "no plans that I know of" to change, said spokeswoman Sarah Miller-Reeves.
As for the rest, well, talk about Scrooges. The new fees arrive just in time for the heavily traveled holidays, when passengers board jets bearing gifts for loved ones. Or not, once they calculate the costs.
"It's just another slap in the face of consumers," said Michael Clewer, vice president of the Continental Travel Shop, a Santa Monica travel agency that caters to British expats. Because few clients seem to know about the changes, he predicted "a lot of surprises" for holiday fliers.
Insult or not, the fees address a crisis in the airline business, which is bleeding red ink.
Earlier this month, the industry's International Air Transport Assn. more than doubled its forecast of losses for European and North American airlines to a combined total of $6.4 billion for 2009. It blamed the shortfall on falling demand, lower fares and recent increases in fuel prices.
"With the state of the world economy, we're looking at ways to enhance our revenue," said Tim Wagner, spokesman for American Airlines, which on Sept. 14 began charging coach customers $50 for a second checked bag on most transatlantic flights.
Wagner said American expected to earn "a significant amount" from the new fees, but he declined to give a figure.
The International Air Transport Assn. also predicts financial losses for next year, so you're likely to see more baggage fees to more long-haul destinations, such as Africa and Asia, that frequently still allow coach fliers to check two bags for free. Can $15 or $20 for the first bag, which most U.S. carriers charge for domestic flights, be far behind?
So, transatlantic fliers, it's time to get real about your baggage. Steps that may or may not cut your costs include packing lighter, carrying on more, choosing another airline, getting an upgrade or paying fees online. Each has its upsides and downsides.
