I can see where people “come from” (ie where you work or live from the IP) when they visit the blog. The one post that got the most attention from Delta corp computers was THIS post about how to avoid bag fees. Delta has a bunch of luggage rules and I have blogged about them extensively and you can find out more in E12 in the Essential tab.

But currently, say you are going to fly coast to coast on Delta, and you don’t have a Delta AMEX card so will have to pay for your 1st bag, it will set you back $25. Have you ever thought about the fact that your fee was a bargain? I mean, discounting the $60 minimum fee for using Delta Cargo, just the cost for a 50 lbs bag from coast to coast should cost you $43.50! Even the $35 second bag fee is a bargain at that rate.

Now before your head explodes, I am not saying you should be happy about forking over $60 to check two bags – one way – on Delta. But I hope this makes the point that weight, and the fuel to carry the weight, does have a huge impact on our airline not to mention the environment for the extra pollution we make. So all I am saying is think when you pack. Don’t pack things you will not need as it may cost you more money and could be just wasting gas! – René

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Consumer advocate Chris Elliott put up a two part interview with Allison Ausband who is Delta Air Lines’ vice president for reservation sales and customer care. One of the questions and quotes was:

You recently changed your baggage interlining policy, so luggage isn’t automatically transferred when a customer is traveling on another airline using two tickets. Have you had any complaints about that?

No, that issue hasn’t popped up.

I commented that – really?, No complaints? And said this on Flyertalk and was criticized due to the fact that the policy has yet to start. But, this is a big deal. You can read more about baggage interlining HERE to find out just what we are talking about.

Anyway, take a look what has now popped up HERE on Delta.com (btw it looks like a typeo as 2012 should read Jan 2013):

Maybe, just maybe, Delta is rethinking this. Time will tell. Is this an issue that will affect you and your Delta travels? – Rene

PS – you still have time to win 1 of 7 gift cards HERE btw!

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I have had many occasions in traveling where I found myself in a city new to me with several hours to spare before my connecting flight. Surely you have too, and perhaps on a few of those occasions you were able to leave the airport and meet up with friends, grab a nice lunch at a local place as opposed to airport fare, or just do a little sight-seeing in a place you’ve never been. As many times as I have been through Schipol I have never seen the local sights, so I plan to address that on a future trip to Sweden when I have an opportunity to stopover in Amsterdam overnight.

So let’s say you just have a shorter layover, say 8 hours or so, and you want to do one of the above little excursions. Is there anything to prevent or inhibit you? Not really. Let’s say you have a longer layover, say 14 hours or so, what about now? Anything to inhibit you? Only your checked baggage that you would be required to claim and then either find a place to stash safely or drag around with you on your little excursion! The official rule is on page 63 of the international contract of carriage. There is a possible work-around for this if you should happen to be delayed and your bags go ahead of you. When you aren’t there to claim your bags they are taken off the belt and into control of baggage services. They will typically try to contact you to let you know they have your bags, and you can then inform them of your delay and let them know when you will be there to claim the bags.

Also good to remember is that for domestic or Canada travel, anything over 4 hours is considered a stopover, and you’re entitled to reclaim your bag. For international you have up to 24 hours before it counts as a stopover, you are entitled to claim your bag after only 6 hours, and required to reclaim your bag after 12 hours. There is no mention that I can find of what time limit applies to require you to reclaim your checked baggage when traveling domestically.

So go explore and have some fun, but always know the rules and be sure to look at the luggage posts in the Essentials tab under E12! – René

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Delta Air Lines has made the most money of any airline in bag fees this year. How much? $430 million! At $25 per bag that is a bunch but Spirit is talking about $100 per bag soon. YIKES! Back to Delta, If they can keep that pace up, we are talking 2.3 million PER DAY in just bag fees. Break that down even more it is almost $100,000 per hour/24-7! Impressive numbers to say the least. Now as a Delta loyalist I want the airline to make as much money as they can. But, at the same time, I want Delta Points readers NOT to be a part of the 2.3 million windfall each day. A bit of a dichotomy I know, but follow with me here.

So how do we avoid the fee then?

#1) The most obvious step, if you are going to fly Delta, is to get their Delta branded AMEX card. You at least get one checked bag up to 50 lbs free (plus 1 each for up to 8 more passengers with you on the same itinerary). Or, keep in mind, if you redeem FlexPerks points for a trip they will kick in $25 to cover bag fees too!

#2) Understand the carry-on rules. You get one carry on, that may not exceed 22″ x 14″ x 9″, and one personal item. You should see the size of purse Lisa uses when we fly. You could put about a dozen puppies in the thing. Guys, you know a small backpack will work just fine right as “1 item of a similar or smaller size to those listed“. Between the two of you, you can pack a bunch and NOT check a bag. Don’t have a backpack? Buy one as one checked bag fee will offset this.

#3) Get status. Silver is not that hard to reach. Just getting two Delta Reserve cards (personal and biz) and charging $1.00 on each card gets you 20k MQM’s. Then you only need to fly 5k more to reach Silver. Make Gold+ and you get 2 bags free not just one with Silver. [edit: as reader Stils points out, Silver Medallion plus any Delta AMEX cards does get you 2 bags free]

#4) Get creative. You can check one bag free international. But, if you sign up here, and pack your putter and clothes in your golf bag and book on KLM flights, you get 2 bags. Sure you have to buy a golf case, but hey luggage is luggage, right?

#5) Ship your stuff. Most of the time it is cheaper to pay the airline, but if prices go up more, think about USPS or FedEx (earn bonus points here for them btw) or even UPS. Crazy but true!

Other bits. You can, as my friend Michael W always says, look to scottevest.com and “wear” a ton of your stuff. That is not for me but what ever you do, DO NOT pack heavy. The fee for 50-70 is a whooping $90 and 70-100 is $175!

So those are my tips to save you some cash in bag fees. Do you have some tips and tricks to avoid the fee? Please comment below and help your fellow Delta Points readers out! – Rene

PS – if you are going to the Chicago DO,
check out my host hotel room giveaway!

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Most of us have seen the video clip Delta put out last year of “your” bag’s trip through the Delta system on it’s way to wherever you are flying.

Overall our airline does a very good job of getting the millions upon millions of bags to their destinations. And most of the other major airlines have much worse track records per passenger of completion numbers. Even when delayed, a majority of the time you will see your bag back inside 24 hrs after landing (I know there are horror stories of not getting your bag for days)!

And another big shout-out to our airline’s phone app. I have put in my numbers for my bags in the past for fun and the app does a great job of tracking our bags. They have even added a bar code scanner feature so you don’t even have to type in the numbers!

But back to the title of today’s post. What happens if you have say, either intentionally or unintentionally, a long layover and there is a flight that goes to where you are going before you. Many times Delta will “toss” your luggage on the early flight and your bag goes without you. Then, as I did, you will get notice via robo-call, the phone app and e-mail if you have entered all these contacts in at Delta.com

Here is my point. Sometimes, like happened to me in PHL recently, your bags will just be placed next to the luggage carousel with all the others who got there before you as well. What is so bad about that? There is no one ever checking when you leave a US airport that the bag you have is your bag! Even when Lisa went over to get my golf clubs, they were laying outside the baggage office and the attendant behind the desk in the office just waved when she grabbed my clubs. She could have been anyone!

Bottom line, never check anything you could never live without. And then, be sure you also keep your hands on the “stuff” you take with you carry-on as well! – Rene

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One of the frustrations about flying is you no longer get to check two bags free when flying internationally in tourist class or coach. Even having a Delta AMEX card that in the states gets you up to 9 bags free, does not give you an extra free bag when you fly across the pond.

Well don’t let that frustrate you anymore. All you have to do now is follow these four simple steps to get the 2nd bag FREE. KLM/ AF now has a program for subscribers to flyingbluegolf.com. So here is what you have to do.

1) sign up at flyingbluegolf.com
2) fly ONLY KLM / AF, CityJet, Brit Air, Regional & Air Europa operated flights
3) use your KLM / AF frequent flyer number in the reservation
4) use a golf bag as your additional piece of luggage

See! (hope you feel the sarcasm by now)  Isn’t that simple. There are a few drawbacks for us Delta flyers, like not earning Skymiles, and not being able to fly any Delta metal planes, and having to pack stuff around your golf clubs – but hey – we are talking about being able to check an extra bag for FREE!

OK so maybe this is not such a great deal. There will be exceptions naturally. It is a great deal if say you are flying on a FREE frequent flyer ticket from Delta on KLM/AF metal. All you have to do is sign up for a Flying Blue number and put that in your reservation rather than your Skymiles number. You are not going to earn miles on a free ticket anyway. And if you are going to play golf, it is nice you can get your sticks over for free.

I wish the rain would stop – all this talk about golf makes me want to play – René

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What kind of laptop bag do you like? One with wheels or without? Well I have decided to burn some credits and spring for this laptop bag to give-a-way to a reader with random.org tonight. You can look at the specs about it HERE btw. To enter is EZ. Just say “HI” or “I want to win” or whatever for a chance at this puppy! You will even get a way kool Delta Points luggage tag to go with it!

And to go along with that I though I would share a BC comic that seemed to fit well with today’s post!

From  johnhartstudios.com click to see full size

Thanks for reading and supporting the blog everyone and unless you have been living under a rock you will know that the last day “OFFICIALLY” for the 50,000 point Chase card below is April 3rd so think about it if you do yet have this card! – René

EDIT: We have a winner – thanks for reading the blog!

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“Excuse me, Sir,

is this your bag?”

I hate to hear these words at security! Several years back (about 15+), I was returning through the OLD Detroit Airport from Sweden. Inbound flight was delayed and missed our connection to SBN. Back then without status or club access we were forced to leave the secured side and go back to the ticket counter for re-booking. That done, we wearily made our way back to security where we were asked the dreaded question by the security personnel (again pre-TSA). I nodded and was then informed my bag would need to be examined. They began taking things out of the bag one by one, opening everything individually and generally making my very tired and OCD wife extremely unhappy. When they had nearly emptied the full contents of the bag and not found what they were looking for you can imagine my surprise when my wife, who had been trying to figure out what had looked wrong in the x-ray, suddenly says, “Oh, it must be the fish!”

The security guy and I look at each other with the same horrified expression.

Then she went on, “You know, the crystal fish. It must be lead crystal.”

Oh. Right! THAT fish. A friend had given it to us as a gift and we had, prudently we’d thought, brought it with us in our carry-on bag so it would not get broken. Jetlag and fatigue can make you say the silliest things! When they finally located the fish, and confirmed it was indeed a Swedish lead crystal variety, they hurriedly shoved all our stuff back in the bag and sent us on our way.

But as certified PADI scuba divers, our favorite thing to take carry-on is our regulators. These must just look super wicked on the x-ray because unless the TSA person on the screen has seen one before, the eyes always get huge when they see all of that metal with hoses and clamps attached.

So how about you, what’s the funniest or strangest thing the TSA ever found in your bag that you forgot you had put in there? Share with your fellow readers any funny thing you have forgot about or had to explain to the friendly TSA for a chance to win a set of Delta amenity / drink coupons today! – René

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So you’re boarding your flight having arrived in plenty of time to get through security, visit the lounge, and walk unhurriedly to your gate in time for your zone when you’re presented with one of those lovely pink tags and instructed to leave your carry-on to be checked plane side and go to the last row on a CRJ. Have you ever felt slightly uncertain about this process? Ever wondered what to do if, on arriving, your plane side checked bag fails to appear when you went to collect it?

On a recent flight from MSP I was somewhat amused to hear on the way to the gate over the PA repeated again and again for a passenger to return to her arriving gate, and then to observe said frantic woman huffing and puffing after having taken the wrong pink tagged bag. Yes she had to run back to that gate to return the five finger discount pilfered bag in exchange for hers, and then run back to her departure gate in time for the flight. It made me think, and thus today’s post.

I have talked a lot about luggage and have two posts listed for you in the “Essentials” tab above. While some may plan to plane side check a bag as a means of avoiding bag fees, many other times this practice is not the preference of the passenger but due to overhead bins already filled or change of aircraft resulting in space too small to accommodate the bag. Obviously if you brought these items in the bag with you on-board, you’d prefer to keep them with you as you travel. What are your rights if the airline loses or damages it? Or what if it just walks off with another passenger? Well now that I’ve got you worried, don’t be. It is in fact covered in Delta’s contract of carriage on page 40. If you have a smartphone, this pdf is a good thing to download into your phone for handy reference for not just this but other situations.

In checking into this I found several complaints from passengers who had plane side checked a bag and subsequently had it go missing in action in a variety of circumstances. Several encountered denial of responsibility by Delta since the flights were operated by Delta connection carriers. In the end, even if you were on a regional jet carrier like Comair, they all point you to Delta.com and the official contract of carriage. So ultimately Delta will be the one liable if the bag is lost.

We need to know the rules. Follow the TopTips ahead of time to protect yourself, and make sure you grab the right pink tagged bag! In fact, why not tell us all if this has ever happened to you, or, if you are brave, have you ever grabbed the wrong bag plane-side? Any answer will work for a chance to win the SDHC Micro 8GB card for your phone or digital camera – René

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What happened to my bags? Lost for good? Oh no……

It rarely happens, but if your bag is lost altogether the liability limit is $3300.00 per passenger domestic, $20.00 per kilogram international for checked baggage and $400.00 for unchecked baggage both per passenger. This is really interesting since it is substantially less than the provision for domestic flights. Doing the math, 2 bags, 50lbs each plus the $400 for a carry-on results in a total liability of $1320.00! Delta deems your bag officially “lost” if they cannot locate it within 21 days of your filing a lost baggage claim.

You will have to prove with receipts the costs of the items in your lost bag, and allowances will be made for usage of older items. This is another reason to never pack valuable items in your checked baggage. It’s also a good idea to have a rough inventory of what you pack in your bag. There are many exceptions for irregular things like sports equipment, child care items, musical equipment, etc. and you can read all about it in the official contract of carriage under baggage if you like with this PDF.

What if Delta damages your bag? Again, lots of hoops to jump through here to get compensation and many exceptions as well. Here’s what Delta won’t cover :

Broken wheels or feet
Lost pull straps
Minor cuts and scratches
Damage resulting from over packing
Damage to retractable luggage handles
Fragile or perishable items damaged during transport
Items unsuitably packed or unsuitable for transportation
Damage resulting from Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspections

If your bag sustains damage in excess of any of these exceptions, you must fill out the online form within 24 hours domestic, 7 days international. You must also have the bag inspected by the baggage service office personnel upon arrival and discovery of the damage. If the damage was the result of a TSA inspection, you must file a claim with the TSA here.

I once saw a woman traveling with 2 small children on an international flight and Delta had destroyed her carry-on bag. They gave her trash bags to put the ripped bag and all of her personal items in! The FA’s on the flight were appalled and did their best to help her get everything reorganized. Filing claims does take time, which a mother traveling with 2 small children can’t afford to spare, but there’s no reason to accept this kind of treatment.

Interesting side-point, although Delta can deem your bag “unsuitably packed” they fail to provide guidelines anywhere on Delta.com as to what constitutes “suitable packing” or over packing for that matter! Just a helpful point to remember if you find yourself in this unenviable position with our beloved Delta! And another reason why it’s our responsibility to always know the rules! – René

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