3 checked bags=$380

[zion zig zag]

Ha. Complaining about the extra $380 dollars in baggage charges to get your family to Europe for ski racing. How very 1st world.

[Timberridge]

Magic mountain alpine ski program should pay for this. Tell Geoff that a winning program costs $.

[k2skier112]

I will say its annoying when I getting pricing of bags isn't built into search aggregators. Took me a while to figure out what was actually the cheapest flight for BBI-Euro and the need to check skis.

This hidden cost bullshit until checkout pisses me off. Needing to use airline miles before they expire, all Vegas hotels have at least an extra $30 a day resort fee added.

[doebedoe]

This hidden cost bullshit until checkout pisses me off. Needing to use airline miles before they expire, all Vegas hotels have at least an extra $30 a day resort fee added.

It'll get there eventually. Flight pricing took a long time to get standardized enough for aggregators to work effectively. As we see more airlines with no-baggage options, it'll eventually get worked into search engines. Some are introducing an "include bags" option along with their search criteria.

Source: My SO just spent a number of months doing ML stuff for a company that powers the search behind sites like Kayak.

[El Chupacabra]

Maybe for the travel tips thread... And YMMV, you'll want to confirm this for yourselves for every trip:

If you have the airline credit card, you (and in many instances your travel companions on the same itinerary) get baggage fees waived. AFAIK this works for getting a "basic economy" (no free baggage included) fare, but because of the credit card waiver, you get baggage anyway.

If you book through a domestic carrier, and your first flight is on that domestic carrier, their baggage policy applies to the rest of that flight leg. This will not help you on the return leg, unless you are flying that domestic carrier's metal for the first flight on the return.

Example: hold a Delta credit card, book a flight from SLC to Paris. First flight is SLC-ATL on Delta metal: card gets you waived baggage fees. Second flight on Delta partner Air France from ATL-CDG: because you started on Delta, Delta baggage fee waiver continues. If return leg is exactly the reverse, you start with CDG-ATL on Air France, and your Delta credit card does not get you baggage waivers on Air France.

[Ottime]

ha, I thought the same thing.

$380 is ridiculous.

and if everyone was a wiz packer and just brought carry-on (they charge for those too, sometimes), there wouldn't be enough carry on space, forcing some to check their bags. Being a whiz at packing light and telling others to suck it up and it's their own damn fault for packing heavy is comical.

I pack a large carry on and board dead last. Almost haute tees to get bag check for free and transferred for me so I don’t have to carry it through the airport.

[Ottime]

Now I see. You brought an entire car load of ski gear across the pond and are mad they charge for it.

When you put it that way, it seems completely reasonable to me.

So you feel you should not have to pay extra to have all that gear transported, while someone else has a 20# carry on bag with a few changes of clothes.

You must be old dude. Pay your share and stop complaining about it. Entitled old people fucking suck. You already wasted our country and environment. What else do you want to take from the youth?

Maybe take one pair of skis per person.

Oh, in case you haven’t noticed, international ski racing is a fucking expensive sport for rich entitled people. If you aren’t one of them, maybe push your kids into something more affordable.

Fuck man. This place has become the forum to complain about the world. Y’all whine more than my kid when he stayed up too late and forgot to each lunch.

[Buster Highmen]

Which airline?
FWIW, I did KLM/AF economy which included 1 checked bag, 1 carry on + 1 accessory and skis satisfy their definition of checked bag.

I'll do skis checked with some optional clothing packed, carry on a 40L backpack with essentials and boots.

[doebedoe]

Now I see. You brought an entire car load of ski gear across the pond and are mad they charge for it.

When you put it that way, it seems completely reasonable to me.

So you feel you should not have to pay extra to have all that gear transported, while someone else has a 20# carry on bag with a few changes of clothes.

You must be old dude. Pay your share and stop complaining about it. Entitled old people fucking suck. You already wasted our country and environment. What else do you want to take from the youth?

Maybe take one pair of skis per person.

Oh, in case you haven’t noticed, international ski racing is a fucking expensive sport for rich entitled people. If you aren’t one of them, maybe push your kids into something more affordable.

Fuck man. This place has become the forum to complain about the world. Y’all whine more than my kid when he stayed up too late and forgot to each lunch.

I think it's mostly that last year they put the $380 dollars into his 3 tickets so he didn't notice. This year they made him pay seperately for bags. Previously he was subsidizing people who only brought a small carryon. To go ski race training in Europe.

[summit]

If you book through a domestic carrier, and your first flight is on that domestic carrier, their baggage policy applies to the rest of that flight leg. This will not help you on the return leg, unless you are flying that domestic carrier's metal for the first flight on the return.

Actually is the baggage policy of the dominant carrier of the itinerary, although you may have to make your case in order to receive that in the case that the dominant carrier is both not the first leg and has a more favorable baggage policy.

[summit]

Ask a pilot:

Are airlines really buying different fuel quantities per trip based on actual passenger + baggage load?

Or is this just a bunch of nickel/dime fuckery to milk dollars out of the travelers who need to bring more than overnight clothing?

It burns more fuel, takes more baggage handler time/effort/pay to fly bags around. So yes, there is a cost to the airline in addition it being a supply/demand thing.

I do not like the great efforts one must go through to truly compare itinerary costs on a baggage heavy trip these days because every airline has complex and different fee structures. Luckily I seem to have it figured for Whistler/bikes... for now...

[Lone Star]

These retards think the four of us are going to carry on 7 pairs of skis--along with boots, helmets, two pairs of poles for both racers, and all the other shit they need for training. WTF are you guys going on about? Have you never traveled by plane to ski? .

Sick brag. Have you never read the fine print before?

[AK47bp]

I pack a large carry on and board dead last. Almost haute tees to get bag check for free and transferred for me so I don’t have to carry it through the airport.

Genius.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[SumJongGuy]

Ask a pilot:

Are airlines really buying different fuel quantities per trip based on actual passenger + baggage load?

Or is this just a bunch of nickel/dime fuckery to milk dollars out of the travelers who need to bring more than overnight clothing?

Extra weight definitely requires more fuel consumption, but I'm gonna guess the baggage weight is pretty minor comared to the plane itself, fuel, and passengers and crew. So yeah, more fuel but it's not like you're paying a fair price, they want to make money on everything.

Airline margins are shit, so the bag fees are probably a necessity at this point.

Airlines make an average of $7.50 profit per passenger.
https://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pa...-12-08-01.aspx

What most of the airlines have done recently is added additional rows of seats inside the passenger jets packing them in tighter together with less leg room for each passenger. You'll notice it by the fact that the seats no longer line up with the windows in coach and business class. Adding more people weight takes away capacity for baggage weight. People pay for their seats, now people will also have to pay for their bags too when booking the cheapest seat options. Fly first class or pay for bag checks, including your boot bag.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Now I see. You brought an entire car load of ski gear across the pond and are mad they charge for it.

When you put it that way, it seems completely reasonable to me.

So you feel you should not have to pay extra to have all that gear transported, while someone else has a 20# carry on bag with a few changes of clothes.

Let me get this straight--we're on a skiing message board, and you are talking about 'all that gear' when I am bringing less than one ski bag per person? Seriously? Yeah, some people don't need to check a bag--so what? When I travel on my own I have a backpack and no checked bag, I still don't think I should rely on someone with a checked bag to have $60-100 (or more) subsidizing my ticket. Can you not figure out why people get pissed at these charges airlines are now using (to generate billions in profit)? If I knew, for example, that the Norwegian Air fee was $100/bag each way I wouldn't have started selecting flights on that airline (you only see the charges after you make selections).

You must be old dude. Pay your share and stop complaining about it. Entitled old people fucking suck. You already wasted our country and environment. What else do you want to take from the youth?

You must be too young to be able to understand. Whiney millennials fucking suck. Grow up and stop blaming others for everything. (I am going to guess you do not drive a car or fly anywhere, right? Or ski? So GTFO.)

Maybe take one pair of skis per person.

Yeah, I guess you don't ski. GORB.

Oh, in case you haven’t noticed, international ski racing is a fucking expensive sport for rich entitled people. If you aren’t one of them, maybe push your kids into something more affordable.

Yeah, there are a lot of rich, entitled people in ski racing. Thanks for the newsflash. There are also other types, including those who are nowhere close to rich (if you knew much about skiing or ski racing you would realize this and wouldn't need it explained to you). A supposed skier (on a skiing message board) suggesting to another skier that his kids shouldn't ski. Even by the standards of a millennial fool that one is pushing things.

Fuck man. This place has become the forum to complain about the world. Y’all whine more than my kid when he stayed up too late and forgot to each lunch.

You have a kid? You must be old--why'd you fuck up the planet for the young people? Guess it figures you can't see the irony in your bitchy post--as you complain about people complaining. And this thread is mostly people discussing how airlines charge extra fees, not really complaining about everything.

I think it's mostly that last year they put the $380 dollars into his 3 tickets so he didn't notice. This year they made him pay seperately for bags. Previously he was subsidizing people who only brought a small carryon. To go ski race training in Europe.

Tickets were slightly less expensive last time, and no baggage fee for a checked bag. So it's not that it was built in and I didn't notice. I didn't find anything this time that still includes the free bag except when paying significantly more for a ticket.

To be honest, I was hoping the international flights would still give you the free bag, but not counting on it. I was just surprised at how high the charges were (still shaking my head at the $100/bag on Norwegian--means if you book a $400 round trip ticket and check a bag you pay $600 before tax--in other words, if you're counting on the bag then the ticket is 50% more expensive than what is listed).

[doebedoe]

The fact that a particular ticket you buy one year vs the next being more or less expensive doesn't mean they aren't bundling the cost of doing business differently. I could point to the fact I could've booked RT from DEN->Zurich for $320 as evidence that they have bundled differently. I've never seen such a cheap flight to Europe, but it didn't include a bag.

The problem with such anecdotes is that the very complex pricing model of flights means you need to take the entire flight's costs vs sales into account which you can't reasonably do from 4 tickets purchased together (all one trench of pricing most likey). On the whole, flying is cheaper per person-mile than it has ever been. But yeah, that does mean they have to cut back elsewhere (baggage, space, service) to decrease that cost per person moved.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Magic mountain alpine ski program should pay for this. Tell Geoff that a winning program costs $.

Unfortunately Geoff sometimes doesn't seem to understand that a winning program (or even one that doesn't win) even requires a lane. I'll just put this on the MM expense account.

Which airline?
FWIW, I did KLM/AF economy which included 1 checked bag, 1 carry on + 1 accessory and skis satisfy their definition of checked bag.

I'll do skis checked with some optional clothing packed, carry on a 40L backpack with essentials and boots.

Yeah, that's essentially what I do. Aside from ski pants and sweats the only pants I usually bring are what I wear onto the plane (maybe I should have to pay extra since some people wear shorts and my pants weigh more than shorts).

Air France.

[Dexter Rutecki]

The fact that a particular ticket you buy one year vs the next being more or less expensive doesn't mean they aren't bundling the cost of doing business differently.

The problem with such anecdotes is that the very complex pricing model of flights means you need to take the entire flight's costs vs sales into account which you can't reasonably do from 4 tickets purchased together (all one trench of pricing most likey). On the whole, flying is cheaper per person-mile than it has ever been. But yeah, that does mean they have to cut back elsewhere (baggage, space, service) to decrease that cost per person moved.

No, I get that I can't really draw any conclusions about how they are charging, and given different fuel hedge strategies among airlines and other costs who knows what's going on, but as I said the ticket prices themselves are slightly higher this time and total fee for the same number of previously free bags was surprising (not surprised that there is now a charge, it was just higher than I expected). Airlines have gone from losing money to being very profitable, and obviously this is one of the reasons.

[SumJongGuy]

When I booked a trip in August, I got a pop up on Expedia warning me that the cheapest seat option I had selected required an additional $25 per bag each way, and also didn't allow two carry ons, only one personal bag, no overhead space either. It was pretty clearly explained albeit fine print on a pop up before checking out. What I feared more than paying extra to bring a checked bag was the fact that the cheapest seats are always the ones who get bumped first. When we booked our trip from RDU to SLC a couple years ago super early, they bumped us to later flights three times before we even got to the airport. That told me they were selling OUR seats out from under us to others booking last minute and paying lots more for them then shoe horning us on later, red eye flights without even asking us..

[Jong Lafitte]

i loved having my bags hauled on and off the plane

Yup.

Before they started charging for checked bags, I carried everything on to avoid the zoo at the bag pick up. Now that everybody tries to get all their shit in a carry on and race for the overhead space, last few times I flew, I just checked the bag. Easier than ever these days and, since everybody is schlepping all their shit into the cabin, seems like I get my bag quicker now too.

It does kind of piss me off when they're like "overhead space is limited so please, if your bag CAN fit under the seat in front of you, please put it there." Oh so we reward giant carry on guy with legroom now too. Time to find teh smallest bag that still does NOT fit under most seats in steerage class. Really seems like the overhead space should cost more than the cargo space, not less.

I used to ship a lot of shit back and forth when I lived in Euroland to avoid the luggage drama. I can see stuff like boots, though, you don't want to end up renting.

[The AD]

Icelandair still gives you one free checked bag in standard economy, for the record. The downside to Icelandair is that all flights go through Reykjavik. Not a downside if you decide to stop in Iceland for a day or two and it's certainly worth the stop.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Good to know about Icelandair (but it didn't come up for me this time when looking for tix)--did that a few years ago but didn't take advantage of the Reykjavik stopover (they don't charge you extra if you want to spend a few days there). Other downside is sitting on the runway waiting for an hour for 60mph winds to die down so they can get to the gate...plane felt like it was going to take off while parked on the runway (wasn't even on a large treadmill). Really fascinating looking place. Was also cool to see Greenland from the air--British Columbia style mountains and a lot of snow.

[Timberridge]

Unfortunately Geoff sometimes doesn't seem to understand that a winning program (or even one that doesn't win) even requires a lane. I'll just put this on the MM expense account.

A couple years ago they painted the start house. With all the new improvements and the Ski magazine article w/ that picture of DW neck deep in the snow, they should be raking it in this season. This year's goal should be to replace all the Stratton and BOC racers on the podium with Magic.

[Dexter Rutecki]

A couple years ago they painted the start house. With all the new improvements and the Ski magazine article w/ that picture of DW neck deep in the snow, they should be raking it in this season. This year's goal should be to replace all the Stratton and BOC racers on the podium with Magic.

I think we did that a few times already.

Problem is by U14 or U16 most of the Magic kids on podiums somehow turn into SMS kids on podiums. Hey, we're an excellent feeder program...and the paint on the start house has held up well.

[Timberridge]

Yes, the paint held up well.