BAG

Has the airline industry won the luggage fee war?

Consider the following facts:

• Airlines earned $566 million from checked baggage fees in the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That’s more than four times as much as it collected for the same period a year before.

• Air carriers have publicly declared that passengers accept the fees. Only a few brave travel pundits are challenging those claims, but it appears no one is listening to them.

• Far from backing down, airlines are now raising the baggage fees. The latest is American Airlines, which famously introduced the idea of a $15 fee for the first checked bag. Uh, make that $20.
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