USA Today’s Today in the Sky blog has a good roundup on the new British Airways luggage fees. Many will be surprised about these fees, as the press confirms that BA actually failed to instruct its sales staff to advise customers of the new baggage policies when they booked their tickets.
Thus, those who didn’t know about them, and passengers from the US, Canada, Bermuda, the Carribean, Nigeria, Brazil, and Mexico who are exempt, would show up at the airport to large excess fees. Some industry observers think it is an attempt to cover BA’s costs…ie the cost of absorbing the recent tax hike.
Starting on Tuesday, checking a second bag will cost coach fliers a GBP60($118) per direction for long-haul flights and GBP42($82) per direction for UK domestic flights. Premium services will not have a charge levied. Passengers who complete flights prior to September 30th can get 30% off if they pay in advance…not that anyone told them about the fees.
Between this and the tax hike…passengers will continue to bypass the UK for connections into Europe if they can help it.