American to charge for FIRST checked bag.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

But once this becomes industry standard, the entire point of not simply making it part of the airfare becomes moot.

Everyone who's not a complete idiot will simply figure in the $15 - $45 their bags will cost to each fare price quoted, and the competition for lowest fare will be back to Square One.

Point 'A' - Don't underestimate the number of complete idiots in the world.

Point 'B' - The cost of the first piece of luggage is already included so what they are doing is double billing you for the same bag. In time I expect they will just add it back into the price of the ticket, otherwise they will miss out on revenue every time a passenger does not check a bag. Assuming they don't start charging a "convenience" fee for each carry on bag.