American to charge for FIRST checked bag.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

I can bring my own snacks, and buy my own drinks once I get through security.

At $2.00 for a bottle of water, the chances are that it will still be cheaper to purchase on the plane than to buy from the post-security store.

About the only item that I have an issue with (on the whole a la carte pricing structure) is the (non-alcoholic) drinks. Since they don't have drinking fountains on planes, water (Coke, etc.) is the one item I would consider a necessity on the plane that I am forced to purchase.

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

But if the point is to have the lowest quoted "ticket" price ... what's the point of not raising those prices to include the drinks and baggage if every other airline is doing the same a la carte thing???

I think GD addressed this question pretty succinctly in his post above, but the point is that by splitting out the "additional" items, it allows the airlines to publish (newspaper ads, et. al.) lower air fares. For example, your average person make look at US Air's ad and see that the fare is $59 to Phoenix from LA and see that Southwest is $69 for the same flight. That average person won't think about the fact they will have to spend another $20 for checking baggage, getting a drink, etc. on US Air, thus making the net cost on US Air higher.

Caveat Emptor