Booking fees and other airline-related fees have grown considerably over the last decade. Most airlines in the US usually now charge around $25 per checked luggage, and much higher fees for 3 or more checked bags.
There are ways to get around some of these fees, such as having one of the airline’s credit cards to get your first checked in bag for free on US domestic flights. If traveling with 3 bags or more, check to see if your luggage can qualify for ‘special’ rates such as traveling with golf clubs. For some reason, the airlines are very lenient when it comes to golf equipment so you might just have those baggage fees waived altogether (even for a 3rd checked bag which often costs considerably more!). I had a surfboard checked in as a 3rd bag for much less than an additional suitcase, but you really need to look at the respective airline policies on checked luggage as they vary quite a bit, especially for surfboards and other sports equipment.
Another handy workaround is for booking award travel at the last minute. I recently booked an award ticket on United Airlines which wanted to charge me an additional $75 for booking less than 21 days in advance. I wasn’t too pleased about this so I booked the ticket 22 days out, then changed the ticket online to the flight I originally wanted for no extra fees, saving me $75! This just worked on United Airlines and could possibly work on other airlines as well. Almost all airlines now allow for free cancellation or changes within 24 hours of booking, so you could just cancel the booking for free if the change doesn’t work…
Share some of your fee-workarounds in the comments area.
There are ways to get around some of these fees, such as having one of the airline’s credit cards to get your first checked in bag for free on US domestic flights. If traveling with 3 bags or more, check to see if your luggage can qualify for ‘special’ rates such as traveling with golf clubs. For some reason, the airlines are very lenient when it comes to golf equipment so you might just have those baggage fees waived altogether (even for a 3rd checked bag which often costs considerably more!). I had a surfboard checked in as a 3rd bag for much less than an additional suitcase, but you really need to look at the respective airline policies on checked luggage as they vary quite a bit, especially for surfboards and other sports equipment.
Another handy workaround is for booking award travel at the last minute. I recently booked an award ticket on United Airlines which wanted to charge me an additional $75 for booking less than 21 days in advance. I wasn’t too pleased about this so I booked the ticket 22 days out, then changed the ticket online to the flight I originally wanted for no extra fees, saving me $75! This just worked on United Airlines and could possibly work on other airlines as well. Almost all airlines now allow for free cancellation or changes within 24 hours of booking, so you could just cancel the booking for free if the change doesn’t work…
Share some of your fee-workarounds in the comments area.
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