Airlines will charge for 2nd bag checked

Better have some extra cash handy before checking more than one bag at the airport.

Budget carrier Spirit Airlines and British Airways have announced they will begin charging passengers extra for checking more than one piece of luggage.

The airlines say the fees are necessary to keep airfares down in an increasingly competitive industry.

Some airline analysts predict the practice will become an industry norm in the near future.

Beginning tomorrow, Spirit will charge passengers $10 for checking a second piece of luggage. Checking three bags will cost $100.

Spirit fliers will be permitted to check one piece of luggage weighing up to 50 pounds at no cost.

“The main reason [for the extra fees] is we’re trying to keep our great low fares — we’re trying to increase our sales without sacrificing the low fares,” Spirit spokeswoman Natasha Babulal said.

Spirit’s current policy of allowing passengers to take one bag with them to their seat will remain, provided the luggage fits under a passenger seat or in an overhead bin.

British Airways on Tuesday will begin charging passengers on some long-haul international flights $235 to check a second piece of luggage. Certain short-haul travelers will be charged $118 for a second bag, while those on flights within the United Kingdom will pay $90.

British Airways passengers will be permitted to check one piece of luggage weighing up to 51 pounds at no cost.

The change applies to passengers flying economy class to destinations other than North America, the Caribbean, Nigeria and Brazil.

Even if fliers check two pieces of luggage below the weight allowance on Spirit and British Airways, they still would have to pay for the second bag.

The new baggage restrictions won’t affect most travelers because the vast majority check fewer than two bags, analysts and the airlines say.

British Airways says more than 98 percent of its customers travel within their free luggage allowance, with the majority checking no more than one item of luggage per person.

“This whole thing is about simplifying the excess baggage charge system, which only 2 percent of people paid anyway,” British Airways spokesman Paul Marston said.

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