Spirit Airlines to charge for carry-on bags

[DizneyRox]

A news tidbit just hit a few websites about Spirit Airlines starting to charge up to $45 for carry on bags in overheads.

Major airlines will be watching this move in anticipation of doing the same.

[princessgirls]

WOW...$45 for a carry-on. That's steep.

Flying just isn't what it used to be...

Thanks for the info!
Julie

[faline]

At some point, it might just get cheaper to buy new clothes at your destination!

[diz_girl]

I guess that this is to combat the surge in people taking enormous carryons on the plane in order to avoid paying the checked luggage fee.

[Mickey'sGirl]

If it is just for use of the overheads, then it shouldn't affect normal travelling folks. I personally applaud this move, as the bin jamming aisle blocking I'm not paying to check a bag on this flight people really annoy me.

Even when our children were babies, we never travelled with more than one carry-on apiece (as in just 2, one for DH and one for me), and those can be stowed under the seat in front. I am personally relieved to be rid of the bags once we've checked in for our flight.

[VWL Mom]

The Jet Blue marketing team has already jumped on this:

"In case you were wondering, JetBlue will continue to offer a free first checked bag, not to mention that you can bring your Mickey Mouse ears, your magazine collection, your favorite wrinkle-free slacks, and your lunch onboard, and enjoy free use of the overhead bins and more legroom than any other airline in its class."

JetBlue also suggests – tongue in cheek – that when customers can't use JetBlue, they should consider "our expertly-crafted Extrago Sherpa Shirt special outerwear" for flying an airline like Spirit. JetBlue says the shirt – which it points out is a joke and is not actually for sale – is designed to hold "an entire trip's worth of necessities, including the money you'll save by not checking or carrying on your bag."

[DizneyRox]

Sherpa Shirt! Now that's funny!

[Spartan_Jeff]

As awful as I think this is, it probably won't stop me from flying with them. I just checked and i can fly in August r/t Detroit to Orlando for less than a $100.00. I will just make the kids put their bags under the seat in front of them.

[happy day]

I bring carry on bags for 2 reasons. One is that one trip my checked in luggage got lost, and we had nothing for our trip, and the other time the luggage got sprayed with water when they were trying to open the door in the frozed winter, and all the clothes were totally wet and ruined. This along with the long lines to check in bags, and the hastle of it all makes me bring carry on.

[mjstaceyuofm]

If it is just for use of the overheads, then it shouldn't affect normal travelling folks. I personally applaud this move, as the bin jamming aisle blocking I'm not paying to check a bag on this flight people really annoy me.

Agreed. I'd much rather not have to deal with carry-ons other than a back pack, or a laptop case or something of that nature. I've also read articles talking about how disgruntled many airline's in-flight staff have become at having to be baggage-handlers as well as flight-attendants. I really hope this catches on with Spirit and becomes an industry trend.

[ThanxForNoticin]

I don't understand why the airlines don't enforce the carry-on rules they already have in place. If they enforced the size of the carry-ons, more bags would get checked and there would be plenty of overhead space. I agree it's gotten a bit ridiculous to see some of the bags coming onto the planes with people - partly because folks don't want to pay to check their bags (which I completely understand - bag fees annoy the heck out of me). But if you have more luggage than you should carry onto the plane, the bag should be checked.

All this being said, I sure hope Spirit gets burned by customers for trying something like this. It's a ridiculous way to hide the actual cost of the flight by nickel and diming customers for bags. What's next? We all climb on a scale with our luggage and pay by the pound? We're getting close to it....

[kakn7294]

Charging for carry-ons is ridiculous! I agree that if they just enforced the carry-on rules already in place, they wouldn't have the problems that they do with jam-packed overhead bins. Honestly, I would rather see the airlines roll the price for the first checked bag into the ticket and just charge more in the first place. This garbage is the reason we don't ever fly anymore - it just plain costs too much by the time you add in the fees and baggage prices.

[mjstaceyuofm]

What's next? We all climb on a scale with our luggage and pay by the pound? We're getting close to it....

Oddly enough, 3 years back when my wife and I took a vacation with our 2 boys to a small out-island in the bahamas we all had to get weighed with our carry-on luggage. The purpose of that was to balance the plane though. We took a small twin-prop plane that carried 17 passengers. They did seating assignments based on weight distribution. That was a scary flight....