On a recent airplane trip yours truly struck up a conversation with a couple sitting on the same row, who said they opted for shipping their luggage rather than checking it in. They said the price was just the same but was still worth it since checking luggage has hassles of its own (lines, weight requirements, waiting at the carousel, etc.). This obviously made me wonder whether this could be a permanent solution.
Those of you who travel in the US have now become accustomed to a steady decline in airline service. Expectations are so low that we barely notice things that would shock many in other countries (and we are often only reminded when we go abroad on another airline). One inconvenience we have been loth to put up with, however, is checking our luggage. We all remember a time when this wasn’t necessary, yet now it has become a permanent feature (NB: JetBlue and Southwest are two exceptions, who still don’t charge for checked luggage, bless their hearts). So might it be cheaper to plan ahead and ship the luggage rather than check it? Luckily, our friends at Airfarewatchdog have saved us the effort by compiling a chart of their own, which you can find here.
Of course, it isn’t comprehensive, but by scanning it you can see that, if you have lighter pieces of luggage, it still tends to be worth checking it in. If, however, you have overweight or oddly shaped luggage, it might be worth shipping after all. There are some exceptions, though. Like if you’re flying from Chicago to Orlando you will pretty much always want to ship your luggage.
Curious about whether it is worth shipping your luggage? Check with USPS, Fedex or UPS and compare to what your flight charges you.
The airline business model in America is fatally flawed. Each flight requires millions of dollars of capital equipment and thousands of person-hours, and yet profitability comes down to the number of pretzels in the packet, or who gets on the plane first. Is there any other major industry where the service experience is characterized by mutual antagonism between customer and provider?
I actually wanted to try out Virgin Airlines for a possible follow up post. I agree that the airline model is very messed up, so it seemed that the best thing that could have happened would’ve been for Steve Jobs to take over an airline (this might be because I’m reading his biography right now). I’m guessing he would’ve been ruthless in making it work perfectly. Then again, from what I hear Richard Branson has been doing pretty much the same thing with Virgin airlines. And it stands to reason that it would take an entrepreneurial mentality to turn things around. But I wonder if things really are all that different with VA, or if it’s just the comparison to the other US airlines.