Effective on Saturday, Spirit Airlines will charge passengers ten dollars for a second checked bag. Spirit will now have the strictest baggage policy in the industry…although ten dollars for an extra fifty pounds is not bad. A third bag will be one hundred dollars.
Get Flight Wisdom by email Practical answers on air travel, delays, cancellations, refunds, baggage and more
Industry average in the U.S. is now at two bags, fifty pounds each. In Europe, a low cost carrier, offers an even lower allotment, and charges you by weight after that. For example, Ryanair, the well known European discounter, charges a GBP3.5($6.90) per bag check in advance, double that if purchased at the airport. Their complementary weight allowance is 15K(33lbs), and excess above that is GBP5.50($10.84) per kilo…extra fees for sports or musical equipment.
By comparison…a $10 charge for a 50lb bag, $100 for each additional 50lbs is not so horrible. Just think of these numbers…to take 50lbs(23K)…Spirit’s complementary allotment, you would have to pay for 8 additional Kilo, plus bag fee…for a total in dollars of $94. To take the standard US allotment, you’d have to pay $350…assuming you paid all your bag fees in advance.
We see the other carriers matching ideas like this.
