Effective on Saturday, Spirit Airlines will charge passengers ten dollars for a second checked bag. Spirit will now have the strictest baggage policy in the industry…although ten dollars for an extra fifty pounds is not bad. A third bag will be one hundred dollars.
Industry average in the U.S. is now at two bags, fifty pounds each. In Europe, a low cost carrier, offers an even lower allotment, and charges you by weight after that. For example, Ryanair, the well known European discounter, charges a GBP3.5($6.90) per bag check in advance, double that if purchased at the airport. Their complementary weight allowance is 15K(33lbs), and excess above that is GBP5.50($10.84) per kilo…extra fees for sports or musical equipment.
By comparison…a $10 charge for a 50lb bag, $100 for each additional 50lbs is not so horrible. Just think of these numbers…to take 50lbs(23K)…Spirit’s complementary allotment, you would have to pay for 8 additional Kilo, plus bag fee…for a total in dollars of $94. To take the standard US allotment, you’d have to pay $350…assuming you paid all your bag fees in advance.
We see the other carriers matching ideas like this.