Random airline fees are big business for major airlines in the United States and checked baggage fee, in particular, is the main driver of airline profits today. These additional services brought in more than $6.7 Billion in 2022 alone — and they continue to grow. The past few years have seen airlines like JetBlue And unified increased fees for checked baggage.
It’s safe to say that no one wants to pay $60 to $75 extra to check in luggage on a domestic, round-trip flight — especially when summer airfares are high. already pretty tall.
Fortunately, there are some simple ways to avoid paying these fees. Today we’ll learn how to avoid checked baggage fees on major US carriers
Most popular baggage fees
Most major airlines in the United States apply some common type of baggage fee. The first fee is for any checked baggage, which usually starts at $30 each way but increases rapidly as you add a second or third suitcase. You can also fall victim to an additional fee for checking overweight baggage, which usually begins when you exceed 50 pounds. Finally, there’s a size factor: Large suitcases will almost certainly require an additional fee, as well as some special types of luggage, like diving gear.
For more details, here are links to our personal guide to US airlines baggage fee policies:
It’s worth noting, however, that published policies can have some wiggle room. I sometimes get an airline to accept my 52-pound baggage without an excess charge, and if you’re in the status quo and are traveling with a travel companion on a separate booking, you can still convince a sympathetic check-in officer. free that bag.
And luckily, there are some proven ways to overcome these added costs before your next trip.
Best ways to avoid checked baggage fees
All in all, there are five main ways to avoid paying checked baggage fees on your next flight:
- Hold elite status (or traveling with an elite friend/family member)
- Exercise right airline credit card (or bring a friend/family member with a suitable pass)
- Use one travel credit card include ancillary costs such as baggage fees
- Buy a premium ticket (usually premium economy, business or first class)
- Travel under special circumstances or to a specific destination
Of course, you can also choose to fly with Southwest Airlines, which allows all customers to check in two pieces of luggage weighing up to 50 pounds each for free. Alternatively, you can try to pack everything into a carry-on suitcase, which is still free on many airlines.
Reward your inbox with TPG Daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive offers from TPG experts.
However, it is worth noting that some basic economy class ticket excluding carry-on baggage, incl United domestic ticket basic economy class and JetBlue’s limited Blue Basic fare. Meanwhile, both Spirit and Frontier often ask you to pay for a larger hand bag.
Related: 7 tips to help airlines not lose your luggage
Let’s take a closer look at each of these strategies so you can avoid checked baggage fees on your next trip.
Using elite status privileges
Airline elite status can be quite valuable to many travelers, and it’s not just about first class upgrades and lounge access. Most of these tiers — even the lowest ones — let you check bags for free. However, the exact exemption depends on the airline and can change as you climb the elite status ladder.
For example, all Delta Medallion travelers enjoy free checked baggage on domestic flights and flights between the United States and Canada. This bag can weigh up to 70 pounds, even for the Silver Medallion, Delta’s lowest elite level. This translates to a pair of 70-pound bags for the Gold Medal, while Platinum and Diamond travelers are entitled to three free 70-pound bags.
United also offers Premier travelers a 70-pound weight limit for checked baggage — one for Premier Silver, two for Premier Gold and three for both Premier Platinum and Premier 1K.
Meanwhile, American follows a similar method for the number of checked bags — one for Gold, two for Platinum, and three for both Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum. However, unless you’re confirmed in first class, you’re limited to 50 pounds.
Note that many of these perks also apply to partner flights. If you have elite status with any of the airlines in Sky group, star alliance or A worldyou will be able to check in baggage for free (or enjoy an additional allowance for checked baggage) on partner airlines.
For more details on elite status perks, check out these tutorials:
Related: So what exactly is elite status in travel — and how can I get it?
Get an airline credit card
Eligibility for elite status may not be a problem for leisure travelers, but fortunately most US airlines offer a simpler route to getting Free checked baggage: open an airline credit card. Most U.S. airlines co-branded cards waive first-time check-in baggage allowance for domestic itineraries. In fact, many of these perks are for travel companions — in some cases, up to eight people on the same booking. And some are available for an annual fee of less than $100.
In other words, with just the right airline credit card, you and your whole family can check in for free on your next trip.
Each service provider uses slightly different rules for these policies, but here is a summary of the cards that provide this privilege:
* Information about these cards has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Unfortunately, the major low-cost airlines in the United States – Frontier and Spirit – do not offer this privilege with their respective credit cards.
It’s worth noting that many of these perks are automatically applied based on the loyalty program account associated with the card. However, for both alaska And unifiedyou must use a co-branded pass for your flight ticket to get free baggage allowance.
Use a travel credit card
Many travelers are not loyal to a certain airline, so it may not make sense to only travel with United once a year. Thankfully, many of them best credit card for travel include credits that can cover checked baggage fees as you incur them, and some of them are not limited to individual airlines.
Below are a few examples:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve: Each year, Sapphire Reserve cardholders receive up to $300 travel credit That applies to almost any travel-related purchase, including checked baggage fees. Any eligible purchases will be automatically credited back to you within a day or two of posting to your account.
- Platinum Card® from American Express: Amex Platinum offers cardholders the maximum amount$200 annual airline fee credit to cover incidental costs such as seat assignment, lounge pass and checked baggage fees (registration required for certain benefits). The only downside is that you have to specify a single airline at the beginning of the calendar year, so you can’t use this across multiple airlines.
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: The Hilton Aspire card has an annual airline fee credit of up to $250, which works like an Amex Platinum credit (registration required to enjoy certain benefits). If you have both cards, you can assign two separate airlines, one for each.
- Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Credit Card: If you can’t pay a large annual fee, consider opening Premium Rewards Card from Bank of America. This card comes with an annual airline incident statement credit of up to $100 that can be used towards checked baggage fees, along with a much more affordable annual fee of $95. la.
Information about the Hilton Aspire Amex card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related: Best credit card with airline fee credit
Alternatively, you can also try to use a tag like Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (see prices & fees) to pay for checked baggage fees. The mileage you earn on this card can be redeemed to cover any travel purchasesso you have the opportunity to use your miles to get statement credits for these purchases.
Book premium cabin tickets
When you’re traveling in premium class, you’ll generally get free checked baggage — in many cases even more and exceeding the standard weight allowance. These policies generally apply whether you paid cash or used your miles to buy your ticket, so it can be a great way to use your travel rewards and not have to. Worry about additional baggage fees.
For example, here are the baggage benefits for travelers confirmed in American Airlines premium cabins:
- Premium Economy: Two free checked baggage (up to 50 pounds each)
- Domestic First Class: Two free checked baggage (up to 70 pounds each)
- International Short and Medium Business Class: Two free checked baggage (up to 70 pounds each)
- Flagship First and Flagship Business: Three free checked baggage (up to 70 pounds each)
You can check your operating carrier’s checked baggage page for full details on what is included for your particular trip.
Related: Make your way through the baggage claim area quickly with these 7 tips
Travel to selected destinations
In addition to the strategies above, many airlines waive checked baggage allowance for all customers when traveling to specific regions. For example, American has a list of destinations where all customers can check-in bags for free, including Argentina, Brazil, China, India, and Japan. This also extends to all transatlantic travel. And if you’re flying from the US to Australia or New Zealand, your free baggage can even weigh up to 70 pounds.
However, this usually does not apply to basic economy tickets, and there are also seasonal restrictions for certain languages.
Regardless of which airline you’re flying, be sure to research your baggage allowance in advance so you know what to expect — and don’t run into expensive surprises at the airport.
bottom line
Whether we like it or not, air bag fees (and other incidentals) are likely to be here. On major US airlines (besides Southwest), you’ll typically pay at least $60 for the privilege of checking in a bag on a round-trip domestic flight. However, there are ways you can avoid these fees, including elite status, airline co-branded credit cards and under special circumstances. There are even some joint credit card can help minimize the impact of these fees.
If you’re just getting started in the world of points and miles, you’ll want to keep an eye on these baggage fees, as they can be quite expensive if you’re taking a lot of flights. And with many strategies to prevent this from happening, hopefully you’ll rarely have to pay checked baggage fees.
