{"id":62779,"date":"2023-12-18T22:35:14","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T22:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/18\/alaska-raises-bag-fees-will-other-airlines-follow-suit-the-points-guy\/"},"modified":"2023-12-18T22:35:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T22:35:14","slug":"alaska-raises-bag-fees-will-other-airlines-follow-suit-the-points-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/18\/alaska-raises-bag-fees-will-other-airlines-follow-suit-the-points-guy\/","title":{"rendered":"Alaska raises bag fees, will other airlines follow suit? &#8211; The Points Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Alaska Airlines updated its checked baggage fee page over the weekend, raising prices for checked luggage to $35 for the first checked bag (up $5) starting Jan. 2, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Alaska&#8217;s move could have knock-on effects, if history is an indicator. It&#8217;s been a few years since we saw a round of airline checked-bag fee increases, though these things do have a tendency to happen in clusters. In fact, in 2018, we saw <a href=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/news\/3-airlines-raise-checked-bag-fees\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">three airlines raise checked bag fees<\/a> within just days of one another.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"jsx-4252866712 tpg-figure\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:0\" class=\"jsx-36530878 full-width-auto-height-image\"><span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:block;overflow:hidden;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;position:relative\"><span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;padding-top:49.46070878274268%\"\/><noscript><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"responsive\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.global.ssl.fastly.net\/us\/originals\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-12.58.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?width=640 640w, https:\/\/thepointsguy.global.ssl.fastly.net\/us\/originals\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-12.58.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?width=750 750w, https:\/\/thepointsguy.global.ssl.fastly.net\/us\/originals\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-12.58.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?width=828 828w, https:\/\/thepointsguy.global.ssl.fastly.net\/us\/originals\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-12.58.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?width=1080 1080w, https:\/\/thepointsguy.global.ssl.fastly.net\/us\/originals\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-12.58.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?width=1200 1200w, https:\/\/thepointsguy.global.ssl.fastly.net\/us\/originals\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-12.58.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?width=1920 1920w, https:\/\/thepointsguy.global.ssl.fastly.net\/us\/originals\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-12.58.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?width=2048 2048w, https:\/\/thepointsguy.global.ssl.fastly.net\/us\/originals\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-12.58.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?width=3840 3840w\" src=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.global.ssl.fastly.net\/us\/originals\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-12.58.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?width=3840\"\/><\/noscript><\/span><\/div><figcaption class=\"jsx-4252866712 figcaption\">New Alaska baggage fees. ALASKA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Until Jan. 2, the first checked bag on Alaska is $30 and the second is $35. After that, Alaska will charge $35 for the first bag and $40 for the second bag. That matches the pricing at JetBlue, which is already charging $35 for the first bag. However, most of the largest U.S. airlines are still at $30 for the first checked bag.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that many of Alaska&#8217;s best customers will still get free checked bags, including those flying in first class, those who hold the <span class=\"jsx-eb69f9b09a3de1d0 jsx-eea0d1f218f5e80b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/apply-now\/alaska-airlines-visa-signature-credit-card\/?tid=post\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"jsx-eb69f9b09a3de1d0 jsx-eea0d1f218f5e80b applyLink inherit\">Alaska Airlines Visa\u00ae credit card <\/a><\/span>or <span class=\"jsx-eb69f9b09a3de1d0 jsx-eea0d1f218f5e80b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/apply-now\/alaska-airlines-visa-business-credit-card\/?tid=post\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"jsx-eb69f9b09a3de1d0 jsx-eea0d1f218f5e80b applyLink inherit\">Alaska Airlines Visa\u00ae Business<\/a><\/span> card and those with MVP, MVP Gold or MVP Gold 75K or 100K.<\/p>\n<p>This change comes just a few days after Alaska made <a href=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/news\/alaska-airlines-mvp-elite-changes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">big changes to elite status<\/a> for next year, including making all status based on Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) and giving you more incentives towards elite status through credit card spend.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/news\/alaska-airlines-credit-card-changes\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alaska Airlines credit cards get additional perks, new restrictions \u2014 and a higher annual fee<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While this change might not appear to be a big deal at face value, this change could possibly set a precedent for other airlines to raise checked baggage fees.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I would not be surprised to see other carriers raise their baggage fees in due time,&#8221; said Tim Jue, a San Francisco-based aviation and travel reporter. Jue continued, &#8220;The airline industry likes to act in unison, and if there&#8217;s an opportunity to increase revenue somewhere, it&#8217;s a sure-fire bet airlines will capitalize on it. All it takes is one carrier to take that leap of faith and everyone else usually piles on immediately afterwards.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Airlines usually, though not always, match each other when there&#8217;s money to be made,&#8221; said Brian Sumers, an industry expert who authors the Airline Observer newsletter. He continued, &#8220;Bag fees are an interesting phenomenon. Much is made of the nearly $7 billion U.S. carriers made from them last year. But really, that&#8217;s a pittance compared to what major carriers make from credit card revenue.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"&#10;        EmailSignUp_container__70lh2&#10;        undefined&#10;        EmailSignUp_isLoading__zGkU5&#10;      \"><picture class=\"EmailSignUp_graphic__AEA5s\"><source media=\"screen and (max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"\/images\/EmailSignUp\/daily-mob.svg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/images\/EmailSignUp\/daily-dt.svg\"\/><\/picture>\n<div class=\"EmailSignUp_form__cnneL\">\n<p>Daily Newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG\u2019s experts<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/news\/why-i-love-southwest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Southwest famously doesn&#8217;t charge<\/a> for the first two checked bags. United Airlines already charges $35 a bag, but you can get that down to $30 by paying for baggage in advance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/guide\/how-to-avoid-checked-baggage-fees\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">How to avoid checked baggage fees on major domestic airlines<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The cost of doing business for most airlines is going up, and we&#8217;re going to start seeing carriers look to extract more money out of their customers,&#8221; said Jue. &#8220;I think baggage fees are just the start of that effort, and I&#8217;d expect other carriers to quietly raise their checked bag fees in the coming days or weeks.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sumers, however, said it may be simpler than that. &#8220;In raising their baggage fees, airlines may be trying to grab cash from consumers in the form of fees. But just as likely, they are trying to coax some travelers into getting a new credit card, which \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 comes with &#8220;free&#8221; checked luggage. As bag fees climb up, a credit card becomes a more enticing deal.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>Related reading:<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\/news\/alaska-bag-fees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alaska Airlines updated its checked baggage fee page over the weekend, raising prices for checked luggage to $35 for the first checked bag (up $5) starting Jan. 2, 2024. Alaska&#8217;s move could have knock-on effects, if history is an indicator. It&#8217;s been a few years since we saw a round of airline checked-bag fee increases, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-62779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-travel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}