• Home
  • About Evelyn Kanter
  • Evelyn Kanter’s Books & Apps
  • Evelyn Kanter In The News
  • Workshops
  • NYC Travel Guru

Evelyn Kanter ecoXplorer

smarter traveling, driving and spending

  • Green Hotels
  • Green Cars
    • Best Cars under $20,000
    • Test Drives
    • Diesel Cars
    • Electric Cars
    • Hybrid Cars
    • Hydrogen Fuel Cell
    • Luxury Drives
  • Travel Deals
    • Free
    • Budget Travel
    • Discount Tickets
  • Xplore More
    • Safety and Health
    • How To
    • Five Best
    • Travel Pioneers
    • Motorcycles
    • Vintage Cars
  • Scam Alert
  • Where to Go Next
    • Historic Travel
    • Epic Adventures
    • National Parks
Home » JetBlue Raises Checked Baggage Fees

JetBlue Raises Checked Baggage Fees

Leave a Comment

JetBlue raises fees for checked baggageThe price of jet fuel is going up, and JetBlue is passing on the cost to passengers by increasing the cost of checking a bag.

It’s just $5, from $25 a bag to $30 for the first bag, and from $35 to $40 for the second checked bag, each way, but that effectively raises the price of your round-trip ticket by $10 or $20 if you check bags.

The checked bag increase applies only to fliers who purchase the lowest-priced “Blue” airfares, which are about $15 less than the next fare option, “Blue Plus.”

Fliers who book a “Blue Plus” ticket are not charged for the first checked bag, but must pay $40 for the second bag, up from $35.

Fliers who book the next higher class of ticket, “Blue Flex” are not charged for the first or for the second checked bag.

UPDATE on airline baggage fees

Since ecoXplorer published this article, United raised fees for checking a first bag from $25 to $30 and a second bag from $35 to $40 for tickets issued on or after Friday, Aug.  31. The additional checked baggage fees fees cover flights in North and Central America and the Caribbean, but not Europe or Asia.

Also, Air Canada and WestJet have raised their checked baggage fees to $30 and $35.

Do the math.  This means is that the cheapest ticket is no longer a bargain, because having to pay $10 round trip to check a bag to save $15 on your ticket makes no sense, especially when the fare that costs $15 more also gets you a better seat.

JetBlue quietly raised the checked bag fee on Monday, August 27th, for tickets purchased on or after that date.  It’s in the fine print on the bottom of the carrier’s bag fee web page, where it’s easy to miss.

JetBlue becomes the first major U.S. airline to charge $30, and the bad news is that it’s likely to be copied soon by other majors, which also are facing higher operating costs because of higher fuel costs, and salary increases for those airlines which recently re-negotiated employee contracts.

Low-cost Spirit Airlines already charges $30 or more for the first checked bag, based on a complicated formula that includes the distance of the route being flown.

Ironically, JetBlue started out as a low-cost airline, with free checked baggage.  That ended in 2015 with a reality check.

Checked baggage fees aren’t going away.  They are a profit center for the airlines.

In the first quarter of 2018, JetBlue earned $7.2 Million in checked bag fees – less than low-cost airlines Spirit and Frontier, and far less than majors American, Delta and United, according to this interesting set of numbers on the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics website page.

And JetBlue earned even less – also behind Spirit and Frontier – in all of 2017 for checked baggage fees, so it’s no wonder they are upping the price.

In 2017, the 23 largest US-flag airlines reported a combined profit of $15.5 Billion, including a whopping $4.6 Billion from baggage fees, and $2.9 Billion from reservation change fees, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

BTW – Those are the only two fees airlines are required to report to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.  They are not required to report fees received for an upgrade to a roomier seat, preferred boarding, transporting an animal, or how much they earn from selling snack boxes or those little bottles of wine and liquor.

In 2016, they earned $13.5 billion in profits, including $4.2 billion in bag fees, the bureau reports.

 

Thanks for visiting ecoXplorer. Stay up to date with the latest news about green travel, green cars, smart spending and frugal living by subscribing. It's free. RSS feed.
Welcome back to exoXplorer. Stay up to date with the latest news about green travel, green cars and smart spending by subscribing. It's free. RSS feed.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Related Posts:

  • JetBlue Enhances Customer Loyalty Program Perks
  • JetBlue Expands TrueBlue Loyalty Program
  • NYC Guide: Airport Transportation
  • Best and worst domestic airlines and websites
  • JetBlue Rolls Out Cheap No-Frills Airfares
  • Checked baggage fees increase in 2014

Filed Under: Green Travel

What do you think? We value your comments and love hearing from you. Cancel reply

ecoXplorer is your guide to smart spending and eco-friendly living

Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 20+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and guidebook and smartphone app author – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.

Evelyn currently serves as President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA), and is a past Board Member of a prestigious professional group for travel journalists.

Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.

Most Popular Recent Posts

  • Scam Alert: Kars4Kids Car Donation Charity
    Scam Alert: Kars4Kids Car Donation Charity
  • 2 Reasons to Avoid Jimmy John's
    2 Reasons to Avoid Jimmy John's
  • Scam Alert: Mideast Peace Charities
    Scam Alert: Mideast Peace Charities
  • Fast Food Deals & New Menu Items in February & March
    Fast Food Deals & New Menu Items in February & March
  • Where to Eat in Times Square & Theater District at Local Restaurants Not National Chains
    Where to Eat in Times Square & Theater District at Local Restaurants Not National Chains
  • Lamborghini Stretch Limousine for Rent
    Lamborghini Stretch Limousine for Rent
  • Bertha Benz: Automotive Pioneer
    Bertha Benz: Automotive Pioneer
  • Free Hotel Rooms for Cancer Patients
    Free Hotel Rooms for Cancer Patients
  • NYC Culture Calendar: February
    NYC Culture Calendar: February
  • Cyber security tips for holiday shopping
    Cyber security tips for holiday shopping

Search ecoXplorer by category

© 2010-2022 EcoXplorer by Evelyn Kanter. All the stories and photos on our site are protected by US (C) Copyright laws. Any unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited. Plus, it’s just not nice.

  • Home
  • About Evelyn Kanter
  • Evelyn Kanter’s Books & Apps
  • Evelyn Kanter In The News
  • Workshops
  • NYC Travel Guru

ecoXplorer.com is an independent information service which is compensated by advertisers and sponsors. This site includes some links to other websites which are compensated for by our sponsors when you click them.

 

Loading Comments...