Miami Woman Tries To Check Bag For American Airlines Flight. Then They Pull Out Measuring Tape—And Charge $200 Extra: ‘Flying Is Getting Ridiculous’
All travel comes with hidden or surprise costs. Perhaps air travel is the most egregious.
One woman says that she was recently hit with an unexpected $200 baggage charge after an airline worker pulled out a tape measure.
Lisa Opie (@lisaopie_), a Miami creator whose channel is almost entirely dedicated to travel, posted a clip of an American Airlines agent at a South Carolina check-in counter pulling a retractable tape measure off a lanyard and running it down the side of a large hardside suitcase. The departures board above the counter reads “Thank You for Flying GSP”, which places the action at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP).
Opie claimed that exceeding the airline’s mandated dimensions would cost $200, which matches the American Airline’s fee schedule, despite the claims of commenters who told her she had it wrong.
The clip has more than 270,100 views so far. On-screen text tells viewers, “American Airlines is really charging an additional $200 if your checked bag is over 65″.” In the caption she writes, “Learned the hard way today,” with an appended crying emoji.
The Surcharge is Real
Multiple commenters told Opie she had it wrong.
“I thought the max was 62 linear inches?” wrote justmett924. However, per American Airlines’ fee schedule, 62 inches is the threshold where the surcharge starts, not where it jumps to $200.
The measurement confused people more than the money did. “65″?? That’s 5.5′. What luggage is 5.5′??” asked user8702666845938. “It’s total linear,” replied jeremy68929. “They add up height/width/depth.” American describes it the same way: “We calculate the size limits of your bag by adding the total outside dimensions of each bag, length + width + height.” Outside dimensions means the wheels count, and why several commenters suggested taking them off first.
American’s oversize and overweight bag fees have two tiers. A checked bag over 62 inches but no more than 65 costs $30 extra, whereas a bag over 65 inches and up to 115 costs $200 if you’re flying to North America, Mexico, the Caribbean and much of Asia. Checked bags over 115 inches, the airline says, “are not accepted.”
The surcharge is levied on top of the ordinary bag fee. American charges Main Cabin passengers $50 for a first checked bag at the airport, or $45 online, for tickets issued on or after April, and Basic Economy went to $55 at the counter in May. Add the oversize charge on a domestic route and the traveller is at $250 before tax. A second bag costs $65 at the airport, so splitting one oversize suitcase into two ordinary ones costs about a quarter of that.
“Is She Getting A Bonus Or Something?”
The most popular comment on the video, with more than 3,600 likes, went after the agent rather than the policy. “The way the employee acts like they are going to get a cut if they can charge you more is diabolical,” wrote crystalwhatever. “Is she getting a bonus or something?” asked sadnapqueen. Underneath, brrown.pdx supplied a source: “I saw a video that they get $10 per bag they make passengers check.”
There is evidence that some airlines incentivize employees to identify oversized bags, but little evidence that American does. A Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations staff report released in 2024 found that “Frontier and Spirit paid $26 million to gate agents and other personnel between 2022 and 2023 to catch passengers allegedly not following airline bag policies, often forcing those passengers to pay a bag fee or miss their flight,” and that “Frontier personnel can earn as much as $10 for each bag a passenger is forced to check at the gate.” However, while the report also covered American, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, it only found the two ultra-low-cost carriers paid staff these commissions.
Commenters who said they work for American said that the airline does not pay direct incentives for catching oversized bags. “I can promise you American Airlines employees do not get $10 for each bag that they get,” wrote cilla521. One commenter identified a different kind of incentive that does exist, however. “These airlines also give their employees profit sharing, which means employees get back a portion of whatever the company makes in profit that year,” wrote peachflamexo. American’s payout on 2025 earnings came to 0.3% of eligible pay, against 8.9% at Delta.
Air Travel Costs Frustrate The Public
Opie’s post clearly touched a nerve about hidden fees on flights.
“Airlines are becoming so greedy and petty,” wrote msmelissaevans in a comment with more than 500 likes. wi_st0ve agreed: “Flying is getting ridiculous. Always shrinking everything.”
Others were more sympathetic to the airlines and their staff. A commenter posting as kerkluxen_unhinged wrote, “Ramp people don’t need to hurt their backs, and some planes can only fit so much.” Another, who said they work for a different airline, explained why the tape comes out at the counter at all. “Bag sizers are for carry-on bags only,” wrote kathleenmk61. “We have measure tapes at the ticket counter for checked baggage if we feel the need to measure.”
Commenter misty.ann12 chimed in with some common sense: “It doesn’t take long to measure your bag at home before you start packing.”
Clearly, many travelers do not take this step. United States airlines collected $7.4 billion in baggage fees in 2025, and American’s own fine print notes that “All bag fees are non-refundable when paid at the airport.”
BoardingArea reached out to Lisa Opie via TikTok direct message and to American Airlines via email for comment. We’ll be sure to update this if either responds.
@lisaopie_ Learned the hard way today 🥲
♬ original sound – LoverboyMarcus96
