While I am happy that the overall flight prices seem to have dropped over the years, i think that a lot of this is actually for marketing purposes since the lower-cost airlines tend to hide a lot of their fees as "options" that you have to pay extra for.
I don't like the trickery, but it seems as though there really isn't any way around it. Take my recent upcoming trip to Vietnam.
I am moving, this is a one-way journey so while I would normally only travel with a small carry-on bag, obviously the bulk of my posessions is not going to fit into a small rolling suitcase and weight less than 7kg.
Therefore, I am going to need to check a bag or two and this is where they get ya!
I want you to keep in mind that I am traveling from Thailand to Vietnam, this is not a long flight (less than 2 hours) so in effect it is far shorter than most domestic flights in North America. That doesn't stop all the airlines from inventing some sort of magical fee that exists for "international travel."
So i am allowed 20kg included in my original ticket price and from what I can estimate a need a 2nd checked bag that is likely going to weigh another 15-20kg. Even though I live my life with as few possessions as possible, I still have SOME stuff.
If you don't feel like doing the math this means that my excess baggage fee is going to be $220. This is particularly absurd when you consider the fact that the flight itself only cost about $110. So a bag, that weighs far less a human does costs more to ship than a person. Makes total sense right?
It seems a bit absurd to me that it would actually be cheaper for me to book another ticket for a fictional person, and check the bag in under their name than it would be for me to purchase the excess baggage amount.
So after seeing this I am concerned about how they are likely going to really put me over the coals about how much they are going to charge me in order to bring my doge pal with me. I wonder what the per kilo charge is for a living creature that I can only hope they treat with far less disdain than they treat our luggage? When I was moving from Krabi to Chiang Mai about a year ago, the ticket for the dog was more expensive than the ticket was for me.
If anyone out there has some idea why the airline charges so dear a price for this I would love to hear it. The best answer I have found online is this one.
Because they can. Baggage fees are one area not subject to regulation. Baggage fees fall into a category called ancillary revenue, the fees are not directly taxed. This goes for excessive baggage fees as well.
