All That Baggage

Remember when the airline stews had to be registered nurses? OK, you and I weren’t around, but that was the deal in those Ford tri-motors during the 1930s. Airlines obviously have changed in the past 75 years, but there are some recent big changes, and as a traveling wingshooter you ought to be aware of them as hunting trip travel season looms.

The airline industry was deregulated 30 years ago to promote free-market competition and lower prices to the consumer. Although the spate of airline bankruptcies over the past 10 years has meted out a kind of Keynesian justice, there’s no question that airlines are scrambling today to maximize profits and minimize costs just to survive fuel-cost increases. The rising fares are obvious as is the food (or unreasonable facsimile thereof), but passenger luggage as a profit center? You bet. That’s where it’s heading.

In the recent past most domestic airlines enforced a limit of two checked bags not to exceed 50 pounds each plus a carry-on bag and a “personal”-item bag. Now they are charging for checked luggage. In May 2008 many airlines went to only one “free” checked bag for domestic flights and a $25 charge each way for the second.

If some is good, more is better, they figured, so American and Northwest (among others) raised the checked-bag toll to $15 for the first and $25 for the second each way. United went one better with $15 for the first and $50 for the second each way. That’s an extra $130 per round trip if you check a gun case and gear bag with the Friendly Skies. Our guns, by law, must travel as checked luggage, so it will be hard to avoid the second-checked-bag charge. But wait! It gets better. If you need to check a third bag, expect to pay between $100 and $150 additional each way, depending on the carrier. But wait some more! If one of your checked bags is more than 50 pounds, expect to pay something around $125 extra each way. That’s in addition to the other fees.

At this writing, Southwest is the only domestic major to give you two checked bags for free. All the majors still have a carry-on bag and a personal item for free, but you can only imagine what the mess in those overhead compartments will be like.

Not to worry, you blithely opine. I can get all I need into one of those rolling duffel bags with the gun/boot compartment underneath. Right? Maybe yes. Maybe no. For quite a while there has been a 62-inch size restriction on any single piece of luggage. The 62 inches is the sum of the length, width and height of the piece. My Beretta, Orvis and old Boyt rolling duffels, when fairly full, all exceed this 62-inch calculation by a good bit. So do the 53-inch-long non-takedown rolling Pelican and SKB gun cases. Though I’ve never had bag size questioned in the past, you can bet they will do it now. Like overweight baggage, expect to pay $100 to $150 each way for oversized luggage. This is in addition to any charge for excess weight or number of bags.

So let’s say your rolling duffel is a little oversize and a little overweight. That could be: $50 for a second bag, $150 for exceeding 50 pounds, $150 for exceeding 62 inches, times two for the round trip equals $700! UPS or FedEx here we come, and I’m serious about that. If you have an oversize or overweight piece, it will be much cheaper to ship it. Here are some flying-vs.-shipping comparisons:
www.airfarewatchdog.com/AirfareWatchBlog/tabid/54/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/946/Default.aspx.

Two things are for sure: The rules are changing quickly, and all of the airlines aren’t on the same page. It would be very wise to ask an airline about its baggage policy before you book with it. And if you are changing airlines for the second leg of your trip, positively find out what that second airline’s baggage policy is also. It may not be the same as the first airline’s. Here is a baggage-fee list for May 2008 (I don’t have a later one, but it hasn’t gotten any better, that’s for sure): www.airfarewatchdog.com/AirfareWatchBlog/tabid/54/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/868/Checked-bag-fees-airline-by-airline.aspx.

How do you propose to handle airline baggage for your hunting trips? Have any good suggestions you can share? We’re all wandering this maze together. Alice certainly would have found the current airlines boondoggle to be “curiousier and curiousier.”

That’s it for now. Boots off. Beer open.