The Hindu Business Line : Travel within Europe, US turns expensive

There will be a charge of $15 starting from July 9 on the first bag under 23 kg, $25 on the second and $100 on the third up to ninth bag of the same weight.

Shubhra Tandon

Mumbai, July 4

If you are looking to travel to Europe or to the US, the advice is — travel light. While, the new charges being levied by airlines in these countries on check-in baggage mostly exempts international ticket holders, one has to be prepared to shell more money for the luggage while travelling on a domestic ticket.

“It is not so much about the extra money that one will have to spend but the inconvenience that this new system would cause. If I have an extra bag in the last minute, it would be a hassle to pay separately for that,” said Mr Anurag Shah, Chief Executive Officer of Technology Services with Omnitech InfoSolutions, who recently returned from a business trip to Europe and US.

He did not face any charges in the US but paid €15 a baggage while travelling between Brussels and Berlin on an easyJet flight.

Ask him whether this would make him more cautious while shopping in these places? The prompt reply is ‘Yes’. “If I am travelling with my family, I will definitely have to be more careful about how much I shop. I need to be judicious,” he says.

Mr Shah’s concerns are quite valid if one sees the charges that the airlines are or would be levying. There will be a charge of $15 starting from July 9 on the first bag under 23 kg, $25 on the second and $100 on the third up to ninth bag of the same weight. The charges will increase depending on the weight of the baggage.

However, there are exceptions for levying the above charges. Passengers with business or first class tickets, privileged customers of airlines, full-fare ticket holders in Economy Class, passengers checking personal assistive devices, military personnel on duty and few others will be exempt from the new charges.

The travel agents are also advising their clients to travel light but are of the opinion that the move is not going to impact the leisure traveller much. “We always advice our customers to travel light, but if one is spending so much on a holiday at the end of the day these charges don’t matter. This policy is going to affect the students and frequent business traveller more,” said Mr Vishal Suri, Chief Operating Officer (Leisure and Outbound), Thomas Cook.

While US Airways is yet to implement the policy, United Airlines and American Airlines implemented it from mid-June. Continental Airways started charging the fee from April onwards.

Indian industry

The Indian aviation industry is under immense pressure given the continuing increase of aviation turbine fuel prices and has been passing on the extra cost to consumers. Will the industry resort to any such move to improve incomes is yet to be clear.

“There is no decision for implementing any charge on check-in baggage yet,” said Air India’s spokesperson.

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