• Home
  • About Evelyn Kanter
  • Evelyn Kanter’s Books & Apps
  • In The News
  • Workshops
  • NYC on the Cheap

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
You are here: Home / Green Travel / 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 this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (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

Filed Under: Green Travel

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

Most Popular Recent Posts

  • 2 Reasons to Avoid Jimmy John's
    2 Reasons to Avoid Jimmy John's
  • Scam Alert: Kars4Kids Car Donation Charity
    Scam Alert: Kars4Kids Car Donation Charity
  • Scam Alert: Mideast Peace Charities
    Scam Alert: Mideast Peace Charities
  • Sundance Film Festival 2021 is Virtual
    Sundance Film Festival 2021 is Virtual
  • Best Used Car Buys: 2005-2010 models
    Best Used Car Buys: 2005-2010 models
  • Lamborghini Stretch Limousine for Rent
    Lamborghini Stretch Limousine for Rent
  • Test Drive: 2019 Lexus NX300 Hybrid
    Test Drive: 2019 Lexus NX300 Hybrid
  • Autonomous Driving in an Acura TLX
    Autonomous Driving in an Acura TLX
  • Foreign Cars Made in America
    Foreign Cars Made in America
  • How To Avoid Flying on a Boeing 737 Max 8
    How To Avoid Flying on a Boeing 737 Max 8

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

ecoXplorer 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.

Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.

Also follow my NYC website, www.nyconthecheap.com.

Search ecoXplorer by category

Translate ecoXplorer

© 2010-2020 EcoXplorer by Evelyn Kanter. All the stories and photos on our site are protected by US Copyright laws. Any unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited. Plus, it’s just not nice.

  • Home
  • About Evelyn Kanter
  • Evelyn Kanter’s Books & Apps
  • In The News
  • Workshops
  • NYC on the Cheap

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 Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.