American to charge for FIRST checked bag.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yeah, anything more than 3 days and I'm checking a bag. And I'll pay my $15 for the service.

I'm wondering, what if I've already bought a ticket before they announced this new policy? Would they charge the $15? I'd have some words for them if they tried.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

I actually use these for travel. I would never get everything in to a carry on bag for a week long vacation, even using these. But, I have to take along more shoes than the normal traveler, and those don't compress.

How well do the cloths travel being compressed? Do they come out looking like they were wadded into a ball and stepped on by a packaderm?

[Not Afraid]

Well, they don't come out wrinkle free, but they never do anyways.

[Alex]

There's quite a community out there for people trying to travel (for any length of time) with just a single carry on item. It is well out of date but Lani's old Travelite site has a lot of information and links to resources.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Yeah, anything more than 3 days and I'm checking a bag. And I'll pay my $15 for the service.

I'm wondering, what if I've already bought a ticket before they announced this new policy? Would they charge the $15? I'd have some words for them if they tried.

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

I'm not a lawyer (but I've played doctor many times in my life), but I would think that American would have to honor those tickets which were sold including the first piece of luggage (or whatever the rule was in effect at the time of purchase). They entered into a legally binding agreement by selling the ticket.

_________________

Originally Posted by Moonliner

So it might be time to get more into the old carry on...

Has anyone tried these:

Space Bag - Travel

Susan has used them to store things at the house. We've had several of them rip, so we gave up on them. My observation is that while you may save cubic inches, it becomes a very inflexible (semi-rigid) piece which could make it harder to pack.

[blueerica]

OK, I finally had to just skip through for the sake of time (damn, this thread got long!), so if this has been answered or I am incorrect and it's been pointed out prior to this, please accept all daily recommended apologies.

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

With oil trading at $131/barrel right now they're doing anything and everything they can to remain profitable.

They asked us, right after landing back in SLC, to close our windows and open our vents to save on fuel. I keep it that way, anyway, and am an aisle sitter since most flights aren't long enough for me to "hafta go" and the walls give me an opportunity to snooze. It was warm-ish air the entire flight, as well.

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I personally think that charging people for their bags is ridiculous. There are times when you have to have luggage for your trip. It's not an option not to. So now you're getting charged for it. I think there are other ways to stay afloat rather than nickel and dime your passengers.

I tend to agree with this. On both flights this past week, they were begging people to check their items. I saw all kinds of bags that were (to me) obviously too large in the sense of allowing others carry-on baggage. If they charge to put the first item in, they'll have an empty cargo and people bringing their two allotted carry-ons. The better change, IMO, would be to limit everyone to one carry-on that is over a small purse size, rather than a suitcase and a computer bag (for example).

I see American's point, though - people are more likely to pay the extra charge for the checked baggage after being duped (or maybe they're just stupid, which I'm equally able to believe) into buying the cheaper-looking ticket. Maybe the airline can bag a few more bucks, $15 at a time.

Bleh.

SLC is a Delta hub, I'm crossing my fingers.

[BarTopDancer]

I use the space bags. The ones I use at home eventually re-inflate with air and have to be re-vacuumed. They come in handy for some stuff, but I find that unless I jam stuff in there, they don't hold much. And rolling them sucks. I really don't save that much space when compared to just folding and squishing the top down. And it comes out more wrinkled then if I just folded it - since to get the air out you have to roll it.

[Gemini Cricket]

I've tried Space Bags. They're pretty cool. They work well. But then the bag weighs more because now it has more clothes in it.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I've tried Space Bags. They're pretty cool. They work well. But then the bag weighs more because now it has more clothes in it.

What? "Space" bags don't cancel out gravity? What a crock!

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Moonliner

What? "Space" bags don't cancel out gravity? What a crock!

They offer that option only if you buy the Platinum Space Bags. But I didn't want to pay more for that either.