Are you still checking your bags? Beat airline baggage fees with LugLess! (2024)

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Are you still checking your bags? Beat airline baggage fees with LugLess!? ›

But there's a better way: shipping luggage with LugLess allows you to avoid the hassle of carrying and checking bags for approximately the same cost you would pay to check your bags. Learn more about how it works and how we offer the lowest luggage shipping rates.

LugLess is the first luggage shipping solution that is easy and affordable for short term rental guests. Shipments start at $20 per bag. Shipping luggage ahead ensures a faster and safer way through the airport by reducing time spent checking luggage and retrieving luggage at check-in and baggage carousel areas.

It's always cheaper to pay for a first checked bag online.

Three major U.S. airlines have raised their checked bag fees since the start of 2024, in some cases by nearly 30%. American Airlines and JetBlue hiked their baggage fees in February, following a fee increase by Alaska Air in January.

While that service was free in years past, it's now standard for major airlines to charge for checked bags, experts said. Major U.S. airlines started doing so in 2008, levying around $15 a bag, said Katy Nastro, travel expert at cheap flight alert platform Going.

The only airline to not charge for checked baggage is Southwest Airlines. All other airlines charge fees to check luggage. Some airlines will permit 1 checked bag for free depending on the fare you purchase.

For a short-haul flight where you are only taking hand luggage, checking in online saves a lot of time and is therefore much better than checking in at the airport. If, on the other hand, you have to check in bulky luggage, it is better to use the classic check-in at the airport for security reasons.

Checked luggage is the best option for serious travelers. It's the right choice for when you need more packing space, especially if you plan to return home with large souvenirs and gifts. For longer trips of a month or more, checked luggage is the way to go unless you want to live within carry-on size limitations.

How to make your luggage weigh less? ›

One important thing to remember when flying is that airline baggage fees are charged both ways. So, if your outbound flight charges you $30 for your first standard checked bag, expect to pay another $30 for that same bag on your return flight back home (that's $60 bucks, roundtrip).

By splitting out the cost of bags, airlines avoided paying about half a billion dollars in taxes just last year. In the two decades since 2002, flyers paid a total of about $70 billion in bag fees. This means separately charging for bags saved airlines about $5 billion in taxes.

In statements provided to Nexstar, three of the four airlines that raised bag fees in 2024 (Alaska, American and JetBlue) blamed current operating costs for the increased fees.

Luggage fees feel like they've been around forever, but they are a relatively new phenomenon. In 2008, American became the first major US airline to charge customers for checking a bag, instituting a $15 fee. Airlines also charge extra for bags that weigh over a certain threshold, often 50 pounds.

Special notice. Save time and get the best price available when you pay for your checked bags online within 24 hours of departure for travel on domestic flights within and between the U.S., including Hawaii and Alaska, and select markets in the Caribbean and Central America.

Checked baggage is luggage delivered to an airline or train for transportation in the hold of an aircraft, storage on a coach bus or baggage car of a passenger train. Checked baggage is inaccessible to the passenger during the flight or ride, as opposed to carry-on baggage.

A checked bag is a piece of luggage you hand over to an airline check-in agent at the airport. It'll be placed in the airplane's cargo hold. Bags can get checked for a variety of reasons. They might be too big to be a carry-on or contain items not allowed to be transported in a carry-on.

If you have booked a connecting flight, in most cases your baggage can be checked through to your final destination. That means your baggage will automatically be transported to your destination airport without you having to do anything when connecting to another flight.

Gate checking is the process of checking your bag at the gate to be stored in the cargo hold of the aircraft. This is different from regularly checking your bag, as the process is normally completed at a check-in desk/ticket counter pre-security, rather than at the departure gate before you board your flight.