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	<title>Comments on: Upgrades and Downgrades: American Airlines baggage, Ryanair steals from kids, and more</title>
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	<link>http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2009/08/24/upgrades-and-downgrades-american-airlines-baggage-ryanair-steals-from-kids-and-more/</link>
	<description>Living the first class life -- at coach prices</description>
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		<title>By: JTQ</title>
		<link>http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2009/08/24/upgrades-and-downgrades-american-airlines-baggage-ryanair-steals-from-kids-and-more/#comment-29224</link>
		<dc:creator>JTQ</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:19:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/?p=3650#comment-29224</guid>
		<description>How come nobody&#039;s mentioning NWA?  I&#039;m flying MSP - LHR (St. Paul to London) tomorrow and will be permitted only one free bag, with a weight limit of 50 lbs.  Checking a second bag will be $50.  Here&#039;s the real gotcha, though - if you go over 50 lbs?  Say, to 55?  The fee is - wait for it - ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS.  

I had no idea this airline was so full of &#039;gotchas&#039;, or I&#039;d have booked elsewhere.  Once I realized, of course, I was stuck with the itinerary, unless I wanted to pay out the yin-yang to change it.

You really gotta wonder how airlines expect to keep customers with this kind of behavior going on.  If Southwest flew to Europe I&#039;d dump the legacies in a hot second.  I really think DL and NW are the worst on this kind of nickel-and-diming - the change fee on an international award ticket on DL is $250, for a ticket you&#039;ve already worked to earn the miles to get.  However, none of them are really outstanding on this issue.

(Before other commenters are tempted to dump on Southwest, consider this:  No bag check fee; no change fee - you can change an award ticket an hour before you&#039;re scheduled to fly - free; no Byzantine frequent-flyer-loyalty program rules requiring a PhD to understand; etc.

Yes, it&#039;s cattle call boarding, but considering the BS the others are pulling, I&#039;ll be more than glad to travel with the herd.)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>How come nobody&#8217;s mentioning NWA?  I&#8217;m flying MSP &#8211; LHR (St. Paul to London) tomorrow and will be permitted only one free bag, with a weight limit of 50 lbs.  Checking a second bag will be $50.  Here&#8217;s the real gotcha, though &#8211; if you go over 50 lbs?  Say, to 55?  The fee is &#8211; wait for it &#8211; ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS.  </p>
<p>I had no idea this airline was so full of &#8216;gotchas&#8217;, or I&#8217;d have booked elsewhere.  Once I realized, of course, I was stuck with the itinerary, unless I wanted to pay out the yin-yang to change it.</p>
<p>You really gotta wonder how airlines expect to keep customers with this kind of behavior going on.  If Southwest flew to Europe I&#8217;d dump the legacies in a hot second.  I really think DL and NW are the worst on this kind of nickel-and-diming &#8211; the change fee on an international award ticket on DL is $250, for a ticket you&#8217;ve already worked to earn the miles to get.  However, none of them are really outstanding on this issue.</p>
<p>(Before other commenters are tempted to dump on Southwest, consider this:  No bag check fee; no change fee &#8211; you can change an award ticket an hour before you&#8217;re scheduled to fly &#8211; free; no Byzantine frequent-flyer-loyalty program rules requiring a PhD to understand; etc.</p>
<p>Yes, it&#8217;s cattle call boarding, but considering the BS the others are pulling, I&#8217;ll be more than glad to travel with the herd.)</p>
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		<title>By: anjeeta</title>
		<link>http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2009/08/24/upgrades-and-downgrades-american-airlines-baggage-ryanair-steals-from-kids-and-more/#comment-29048</link>
		<dc:creator>anjeeta</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:48:02 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>Ok Mark I looked again .. and its there on the BA website .. I tend to travel to London frequently and love to bring back British treats .. thanks to BA I will not be spending money at Tesco or Sainsbury&#039;s anymore as I dont fancy paying $60 for additional bag.. think I will now switch to Virgin.. which has also changed its policy ... but continues to offer 2 &#039;free&#039; bags  for check in
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/passengerinformation/baggage/newpolicy.jsp</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ok Mark I looked again .. and its there on the BA website .. I tend to travel to London frequently and love to bring back British treats .. thanks to BA I will not be spending money at Tesco or Sainsbury&#8217;s anymore as I dont fancy paying $60 for additional bag.. think I will now switch to Virgin.. which has also changed its policy &#8230; but continues to offer 2 &#8216;free&#8217; bags  for check in<br />
<a href="http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/passengerinformation/baggage/newpolicy.jsp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="liexternal">http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/passengerinformation/baggage/newpolicy.jsp</a></p>
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		<title>By: anjeeta</title>
		<link>http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2009/08/24/upgrades-and-downgrades-american-airlines-baggage-ryanair-steals-from-kids-and-more/#comment-29047</link>
		<dc:creator>anjeeta</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:29:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/?p=3650#comment-29047</guid>
		<description>Mark, I just flew to London from NYC on BA last month and checked in two bags.. I didn&#039;t pay to check in  my second bag. I am due to go back to London at the end of September and have just checked the baggage section of BA which doesn&#039;t mention this  second checked bag fee. This is shameful on the part of AA .. I am waiting to see to how long before they start charging for food on International flights.. and how soon all the other airlines start to follow this policy..</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mark, I just flew to London from NYC on BA last month and checked in two bags.. I didn&#8217;t pay to check in  my second bag. I am due to go back to London at the end of September and have just checked the baggage section of BA which doesn&#8217;t mention this  second checked bag fee. This is shameful on the part of AA .. I am waiting to see to how long before they start charging for food on International flights.. and how soon all the other airlines start to follow this policy..</p>
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		<title>By: shmayaH (Shmaya)</title>
		<link>http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2009/08/24/upgrades-and-downgrades-american-airlines-baggage-ryanair-steals-from-kids-and-more/#comment-29034</link>
		<dc:creator>shmayaH (Shmaya)</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:44:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/?p=3650#comment-29034</guid>
		<description>&lt;strong&gt;Twitter Comment&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/shmayaH&quot; title=&quot;Twitter Comment&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;ccimg1&quot; title=&quot;shmayaH (Shmaya)&quot; style=&quot;float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;img name=&quot;cc_image&quot; title=&quot;shmayaH (Shmaya)&quot; style=&quot;float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:50px;height:50px;&quot; src=&quot;http://purl.org/net/spiurl/shmayaH&quot;&gt;
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@upgradetravel Ur all out war on Ryanair :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://chatcatcher.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Posted using Chat Catcher&lt;/a&gt; </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Twitter Comment</strong><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/shmayaH" title="Twitter Comment" rel="nofollow"></p>
<p></a><br />
@upgradetravel Ur all out war on Ryanair <img src='http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p> &#8211; <a href="http://chatcatcher.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="liexternal">Posted using Chat Catcher</a></p>
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		<title>By: hassgocubs (Joe Hass)</title>
		<link>http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2009/08/24/upgrades-and-downgrades-american-airlines-baggage-ryanair-steals-from-kids-and-more/#comment-29032</link>
		<dc:creator>hassgocubs (Joe Hass)</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:33:04 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>&lt;strong&gt;Twitter Comment&lt;/strong&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;ccimg1&quot; title=&quot;hassgocubs (Joe Hass)&quot; style=&quot;float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;img name=&quot;cc_image&quot; title=&quot;hassgocubs (Joe Hass)&quot; style=&quot;float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:50px;height:50px;&quot; src=&quot;http://purl.org/net/spiurl/hassgocubs&quot;&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;
via @upgradetravel, Ryanair: &quot;Yes, we have your 8-year-old&#039;s lost purse. That&#039;ll be 10 euros, please.&quot; [link to post]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://chatcatcher.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Posted using Chat Catcher&lt;/a&gt; </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Twitter Comment</strong><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/hassgocubs" title="Twitter Comment" rel="nofollow"></p>
<p></a><br />
via @upgradetravel, Ryanair: &#8220;Yes, we have your 8-year-old&#8217;s lost purse. That&#8217;ll be 10 euros, please.&#8221; [link to post]</p>
<p> &#8211; <a href="http://chatcatcher.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="liexternal">Posted using Chat Catcher</a></p>
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		<title>By: StayBankdotCom (toddmeadows)</title>
		<link>http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2009/08/24/upgrades-and-downgrades-american-airlines-baggage-ryanair-steals-from-kids-and-more/#comment-29029</link>
		<dc:creator>StayBankdotCom (toddmeadows)</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:23:57 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>&lt;strong&gt;Twitter Comment&lt;/strong&gt;

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#Travel Downgraded: Checked bags on international American Airlines flights British Air.. [link to post]
 http://ow.ly/iY3O&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; - &lt;a href=&quot;http://chatcatcher.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Posted using Chat Catcher&lt;/a&gt; </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Twitter Comment</strong></p>
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<p>#Travel Downgraded: Checked bags on international American Airlines flights British Air.. [link to post]<br />
 <a href="http://ow.ly/iY3O" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="liexternal">http://ow.ly/iY3O</a></p>
<p> &#8211; <a href="http://chatcatcher.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" class="liexternal">Posted using Chat Catcher</a></p>
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