United Airlines baggage fees by $5 from June 10, 2009

United Airlines, based in Chicago, the United States, has decided to hike the fees for baggage checked-in at the airport by $5 from June 10, 2009. The increase in the baggage fees, however, does not apply to baggage checked in and paid for online, a statement from United Airlines, a subsidiary of UAL Corporation, said.

The raised charge for checked baggage, which takes effect on June 10, 2009, applies to tickets bought beginning May 14, 2009.

The increase of $5 brings United Airlines’ baggage fee to $20 for the first piece of airport-checked luggage and $30 for the second piece.

The fees for luggage checked online will stay at $15 for first piece of baggage and $25 for the second piece.

United Airlines’ said it would not charge the higher baggage-fee for tickets bought before May 14, 2009, even for flights booked after June 10, 2009.

A report in the Wall Street Journal commented that United Airlines, the third biggest United States-based airline, resorted to raising the baggage fees “in order to encourage online check-in of baggage as a way to reduce workload for airport employees, speed up flow through terminals and reduce costs.”

The website chicagotribune.com quoted a spokeswoman of United Airlines as saying that the latest increase in the baggage fees was “intended to encourage more of our customers to take advantage of United Airlines’ website and check in from home or office.”

US Airways, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, the United States, had, in April 2009, announced that it would charge an extra $5 for the checked bag at the airport from July 9, 2009. The increase would apply to tickets bought after April 22, 2009.

US Airways is a code-share partner of United Airlines, and both carriers are members of the Star Alliance.

Both US Airways and United Airlines charge the baggage fees only to passengers who are not elite members of their frequent-flier programmes and who are travelling in North America on discounted tickets. First-class passengers of both carriers have been exempted from the hike in baggage fees.

According to data given out by the United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 21 biggest airlines based in the United States earned $1.2 billion in baggage fees in 2008.

United Airlines said in the statement that the carrier could generate $259 million in baggage fee in the first three months of 2009, or around $14 per passenger.