Buried at the bottom of the Alaska Airlines homepage this afternoon is news that they are revamping their checked baggage and flight change fees, mostly raising the prices for their customers. The new fees go into effect for tickets purchased or or after 30 October 2013.
Under the new plan the first and second checked bags will cost $25 each, up from $20. Additional bags will cost $75 each, up from $20. That’s a pretty significant change, especially for multiple bags. Members holding status in the Alaska Airlines elite program, SkyMiles Medallion members, AAdvantage elites and Club49 members will continue to have some free checked baggage allowance.
Changing a flight will now cost $125, up from $75 for making the change online or $100 over the phone.
The one bit of bright news comes with the flight change fees. Customers making a change more than 60 days from the date of travel will pay no fee for that change, though fare differences will still apply.
On the balance this comes off as a negative for passengers. The free changes 60+ days out is a nice offset, but the overall hike in charges seems to be pretty bad.
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Really don’t understand the value of MVP – you don’t get much of anything for the status. What’s the point? Nice to see those idiots with three + bags finally being hit hard though…does anyone really need all that stuff on a trip?
Only once in my life have I needed more than three bags. Elimination of any change fees pre-60 days more than makes up for the fee increases in my personal opinion.