5 ms·

United charges for carry ons. I had to book a flight day of for a family emergency and it was super inconvenient. I couldn't even find a fare class on United wi

by buckhx 9y ago

United charges for carry ons. I had to book a flight day of for a family emergency and it was super inconvenient. I couldn't even find a fare class on United with carry ons that wasn't outrageous. You also can't check in ahead of time because they inspect you to make sure you aren't sneaking any carry ons.

zjaffee 9y ago
As of when? I've taken a ton of flights on united and never had to pay a carry-on fee. I've seen such fees on airlines like spirit or fronteer, but never on a "non-discount" airline.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- OkGoDoIt 9y ago
  United is piloting a new program called "Basic Economy" for flights to Chicago and probably other cities, which effectively turns them into Spirit or Frontier Airlines. It's incredibly crappy. My guess is within a couple years all airlines will be doing this. https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/basic-economy.aspx https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/bas...
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Hopefully Southwest never goes this route. They are my favorite carrier.
    - kobeya 9y ago
      Southwest never will. It is against their values and how they differentiate themselves.
    - njarboe 9y ago
      I like them a lot also. Full credit on cancellations up to 10 minutes before take-off, two bags checked free, and no hubs (point to point, non-stop is the way to fly). At least they are unlikely to be bought by another airline at his point. With a market cap of $37.6 billion, they are the second biggest airline world wide and just under Delta's $39.4 billion.
  - yellow_postit 9y ago
    Most fliers want the lowest price, full stop. They'll complain about it to no end but will still keep voting for it with their wallets. Must be an interesting challenge separating out real user issues from the volume of complaints about the service people were advertised and agreed to up front.
    - dragonwriter 9y ago
      > Most fliers want the lowest price, full stop Is it that most fliers want that, or is that headline ticket price is the easiest thing to compare with existing tools, and what people can compare easily shapes their selection criteria?
    - izacus 9y ago
      How do you "vote with your wallet" when your flight to see your family (or destination) is operated by a single airline and you have no choice? Do you ever use brain when you repeat this religious mantra?
      - sokoloff 9y ago
        It's not necessary for every single flight to have multiple acceptable flight options for the market forces ("vote with your wallet") to have an effect. You could not go. You could drive. You could fly into another airport and drive the last leg. You could charter. I go out of my way to choose Delta(/KLM/AF), JetBlue, and Southwest over United, Frontier, Spirit, and Ryan. That works, even if it means I once in a great while fly on United because that's the best choice for that particular trip/leg.
      - saryant 9y ago
        How many markets are served by, say, United and only United? Other than their Micronesia operation, I can't think of any where you wouldn't be able to drive to an alternate airport within an hour or so drive (really just EAS airports).
willstrafach 9y ago
This does not sound correct at all. A personal item and carry on are always free on legacy carriers like United. Are you sure this was not checked baggage?
- OkGoDoIt 9y ago
  I wish that were true, but things are changing. United is trying to compete with budget airlines by introducing a new fare class called economy basic. https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/basic-economy.aspx https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/bas...
- frenchie14 9y ago
  Read very carefully: https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/BaggageCarry-On.aspx https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/BaggageCarry-O...
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    Technically, they aren't charging for carry-ons, just disallowing them (for Econ Basic) and leaving checking (and paying the checked-bag fee) as the only option.

by buckhx 9y ago

zjaffee 9y ago

As of when? I've taken a ton of flights on united and never had to pay a carry-on fee. I've seen such fees on airlines like spirit or fronteer, but never on a "non-discount" airline.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
OkGoDoIt 9y ago
United is piloting a new program called "Basic Economy" for flights to Chicago and probably other cities, which effectively turns them into Spirit or Frontier Airlines. It's incredibly crappy. My guess is within a couple years all airlines will be doing this. https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/basic-economy.aspx https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/bas...
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  Hopefully Southwest never goes this route. They are my favorite carrier.
  - kobeya 9y ago
    Southwest never will. It is against their values and how they differentiate themselves.
  - njarboe 9y ago
    I like them a lot also. Full credit on cancellations up to 10 minutes before take-off, two bags checked free, and no hubs (point to point, non-stop is the way to fly). At least they are unlikely to be bought by another airline at his point. With a market cap of $37.6 billion, they are the second biggest airline world wide and just under Delta's $39.4 billion.
- yellow_postit 9y ago
  Most fliers want the lowest price, full stop. They'll complain about it to no end but will still keep voting for it with their wallets. Must be an interesting challenge separating out real user issues from the volume of complaints about the service people were advertised and agreed to up front.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    > Most fliers want the lowest price, full stop Is it that most fliers want that, or is that headline ticket price is the easiest thing to compare with existing tools, and what people can compare easily shapes their selection criteria?
  - izacus 9y ago
    How do you "vote with your wallet" when your flight to see your family (or destination) is operated by a single airline and you have no choice? Do you ever use brain when you repeat this religious mantra?
    - sokoloff 9y ago
      It's not necessary for every single flight to have multiple acceptable flight options for the market forces ("vote with your wallet") to have an effect. You could not go. You could drive. You could fly into another airport and drive the last leg. You could charter. I go out of my way to choose Delta(/KLM/AF), JetBlue, and Southwest over United, Frontier, Spirit, and Ryan. That works, even if it means I once in a great while fly on United because that's the best choice for that particular trip/leg.
    - saryant 9y ago
      How many markets are served by, say, United and only United? Other than their Micronesia operation, I can't think of any where you wouldn't be able to drive to an alternate airport within an hour or so drive (really just EAS airports).

willstrafach 9y ago

This does not sound correct at all. A personal item and carry on are always free on legacy carriers like United. Are you sure this was not checked baggage?

OkGoDoIt 9y ago
I wish that were true, but things are changing. United is trying to compete with budget airlines by introducing a new fare class called economy basic. https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/basic-economy.aspx https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/bas...
frenchie14 9y ago
Read very carefully: https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/BaggageCarry-On.aspx https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/BaggageCarry-O...
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  Technically, they aren't charging for carry-ons, just disallowing them (for Econ Basic) and leaving checking (and paying the checked-bag fee) as the only option.