Airline looses bag but refuses to refund baggage fee

[Skibo]

They shouldn't be charging the fee in the first place. Doesn't anyone remember when luggage was considered part of the ticket price?

Boobies.

Hell yeah I remember!!! It pi$$es me off that they charge. They're one of the reason you've got so many people squeezing 4 weeks of clothes into a carry on bag and then trying to shove it into the overhead. Then you hit turbulence and bags go flying it's freaking insane.

Well if we went back to the times where the baggage was part of the ticket price, tickets would be $25-50 more and there would be the complaining that tickets cost too much.

[ph4ever]

They shouldn't be charging the fee in the first place. Doesn't anyone remember when luggage was considered part of the ticket price?

Boobies.

Hell yeah I remember!!! It pi$$es me off that they charge. They're one of the reason you've got so many people squeezing 4 weeks of clothes into a carry on bag and then trying to shove it into the overhead. Then you hit turbulence and bags go flying it's freaking insane.

Well if we went back to the times where the baggage was part of the ticket price, tickets would be $25-50 more and there would be the complaining that tickets cost too much.

Tickets were actually less expensive when baggage was "free". At least the routes I frequently travel it was less expensive then.

[flyboy55]

I think there should be a system in place to refund the baggage fees of people whose bags are truly "lost" as in never seen again. Late bags? No. Most airlines undertake to deliver your late bag to you even if you live at the end of a dirt road in Upper Bugtussel.

If you want to go back to a time when airlines were financially solvent (for the most part) and everything was included, even bad food, you have to go back to before deregulation. Of course, back then most people didn't fly as much as they do now because it was expensive.

I deleted a much longer rant about the airline industry, but I will say this: as passengers you have the air transportation system that you've been willing to pay for since deregulation, nothing more.

[Skibo]

I deleted a much longer rant about the airline industry, but I will say this: as passengers you have the air transportation system that you've been willing to pay for since deregulation, nothing more.

This.

I wish you hadn't deleted your much longer rant. I would have enjoyed reading it.

[chippewa]

The bags and the stuff in them are never really "lost". They're just sold to someone else.

http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/

[pema]

[Brown Eyed Girl]

They shouldn't be charging the fee in the first place. Doesn't anyone remember when luggage was considered part of the ticket price?

Boobies.

Hell yeah I remember!!! It pi$$es me off that they charge. They're one of the reason you've got so many people squeezing 4 weeks of clothes into a carry on bag and then trying to shove it into the overhead. Then you hit turbulence and bags go flying it's freaking insane.

Well if we went back to the times where the baggage was part of the ticket price, tickets would be $25-50 more and there would be the complaining that tickets cost too much.

Tickets were actually less expensive when baggage was "free". At least the routes I frequently travel it was less expensive then.

I absolutely agree, Connie. I've been flying LAX to ATL for 9 years now, same times of the year, same 3 airlines. There's no question that I'm paying significantly more in the last year or so for my base ticket price than I ever have. Add in the "extras" and it becomes astronomically expensive. Air Tran is about the only airline that has stayed the same, and yet they downsized to a smaller plane with none of the "goodies" available. A tin of sardines has more room than I had on my last flight. Thankfully my last flight really was my "last" flight for that route, with my brother moving to the Bay Area in a couple weeks.

[Wino you know]

Anyone else remember back when you had to show your baggage claim ticket to leave the area with your baggage?

Yes.

And yes, the airlines should refund that woman's baggage fee, along with replacing her items.
Negligence on their part. They're in business to serve the public, and, with the possible exception of Southwest Airlines, the domestic carrier's service to the flying public has been marginal at best for the past several years.