Bag It ...

I agree there should be a limit for the amount of luggage a passenger takes on a commercial airliner, but maybe the limit should be two bags rather than just one? See the NY Times yesterday:

Airlines to Charge for Second Bag

By MARTHA C. WHITE
Five of the six major airlines in the United States plan to start charging coach passengers as much as $25 next month to check a second bag, the latest move in their quest to offset high fuel prices.

But while the airlines, and even some industry specialists, say they expect the fees will primarily affect leisure travelers, business travelers beg to differ.

“For people traveling with samples or trade show materials, they’re going to find their costs are substantially higher,” an airline industry analyst, Robert Mann, said. “It’s really not limited to leisure travelers.”

Pete Mitchell, director of business-to-business sales for the luggage manufacturer Samsonite, said he often traveled with one-of-a-kind items he is reluctant to send via a shipping service. “We’ll bring them prototypes and production samples,” Mr. Mitchell said. “Sometimes we’ll bring things that are handmade. These are things that we can’t just send out another one if we lose it.”

Because many of the samples are quite sizable, Mr. Mitchell said it is not feasible to try to carry them in his own luggage. “I just don’t have any other choice. You’ve got to be able to let the client touch it. I have to bring them with me even if it costs $25.”

Jerry Bower, an entrepreneur who recently started a company, Wine Galaxy, that offers wine-of-the-month memberships for corporations to give to employees or clients, said he, too, often travels with more than one bag. “I have to travel quite a bit in order to build relationships,” he said. “I do carry a lot of different literature and presentation pieces, and sometimes wine samples.”

The new fee of $25 for a second bag is being levied by Continental, Delta, Northwest, United and US Airways. The low-fare carrier AirTran has announced that it will charge $10 for a second checked bag. Airlines have long levied fees for checking a third bag. Some carriers have recently increased those as well, and the fees on the major carriers now run as high as $100.

As the airlines struggle to stay in the black, charges for amenities formerly included in the ticket price are on the rise. Depending on the carrier, travelers now can wind up paying extra for everything from food to curbside check-in to bulkhead seats that offer extra legroom.

As for the extra-bag fee, even those who say they pack lightly for their trips foresee problems caused by price-sensitive fliers overfilling their carry-on bags and using large amounts of scarce overhead-bin space.

“The thing that scares me about this is that it’s just going to encourage people to lug more stuff onto the plane,” Mr. Mitchell said. “For those of us that have only one bag, if I don’t board early, there’s no place for my bag.”