Passenger abandons luggage to avoid $1,400 fee


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A passenger on Delta Airlines early Tuesday left four of his seven bags at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, apparently because he didn?t want to pay more than $1,000 in baggage fees.

NBC News reported Tuesday that the passenger, who was en route to New York?s JFK Airport, abandoned four bags to avoid $1,400 in fees. Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said the TSA was notified of the unattended luggage at around 1 a.m. local Seattle time near the check-in area for Delta Airlines. As a precaution, law enforcement responded to clear the bags.

One of the bags was determined to be suspicious. ?The Bomb Disposal Unit responded and deployed a robot to investigate the luggage," said Christina Faine, spokeswoman for the airport, in an email. "After X-raying the bag, the bomb techs cleared the contents and determined that there was no threat.?

The TSA?s Feinstein said the passenger was identified and law enforcement officials with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which operates JFK Airport, met the flight and interviewed him when he arrived. Officials determined there was no criminal intent by the passenger.

A Delta spokesman said unattended bags are not a common issue for the airline.

Anyone who?s flown in the past few years knows how airlines nickel-and-dime passengers on food, drinks, baggage, seat selection, early boarding and wi-fi. And it?s getting worse. A report published in May by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics found that U.S. airlines collected nearly $3.5 billion in baggage fees from passengers in 2012, up from $3.48 billion in 2011. And Delta Air Lines (DAL) has sat at the top of the list every year since 2009, according to the bureau. In the first quarter of 2013, Delta brought in $191 million in baggage fees ? the highest amount ? followed by United, US Airways and American Airlines.

Baggage fees on Delta are currently $25 for the first checked bag, $35 for the second checked bag (both on domestic flights). Delta allows up to 10 bags to be checked per passenger on flights, but you?ll have to pay. Your third checked bag costs $125 and bags 4-10 are $200 each.

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I was in a similar situation once when I had to pay ~150USD for having an overweight bag. Since then, I've developed a habit of checking airline's luggage policy before packing my bags.

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I don't understand who's traveling with that many bags and doesn't know that there are restrictions in place, why did they they need that many for a trip?

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Dumped 4 bags!? What were they doing - moving house?!

 

I don't get this "overweight" thing...if you think you have a heavy bag, weigh it before you leave home/get on the plane?

 

It's like saying cops having speed cameras is "revenue raising" - just don't speed and you wont get fined!

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and this is the reason that when i have to fly commercial (which i usually dont) i never check a back, I bring a laptop bag, and a backpack, and they are allowed as carry on items.

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Dumped 4 bags!? What were they doing - moving house?!

 

I don't get this "overweight" thing...if you think you have a heavy bag, weigh it before you leave home/get on the plane?

Maybe he had his 'ex' wife packed ... :ninja:

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Don't blame the guy, that's an obscene levy obviously milking people who've packed too much.

When I went on holiday in June, we were in the check-in line, and one of the other check-in lines for another flight caught out a gang of men with too much luggage, so they did what any honourable men would do, and put on the clothes until they were under the limit. They walked away looking like a bunch of very fat men, proud of beating the system. I was proud of them too :yes:

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Not really, but Delta sometimes stands for "Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport"

 

Brit here, flew Delta airlines to and from America. They folded the TV's down before take-off and landing to show us Commercials. All of them American ones. Do they really think I'm going to buy a brand new Ford Pickup Truck on my Holiday? Then I got showed the same commercials on the flight back to the UK.

 

Everyone stared at me because I threw my hands up and said "Well it's too late to buy my Pickup Truck now!" a little to loud  :woot:

 

 

 

 

hC77C149F

 

 

You realize that 747 has been completely stripped down, it's essentially a hollow shell, with a Cockpit on the front.

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You realize that 747 has been completely stripped down, it's essentially a hollow shell, with a Cockpit on the front.

 

Someone missed the funny  :rofl:

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Brit here, flew Delta airlines to and from America. They folded the TV's down before take-off and landing to show us Commercials. All of them American ones. Do they really think I'm going to buy a brand new Ford Pickup Truck on my Holiday? Then I got showed the same commercials on the flight back to the UK.

 

Everyone stared at me because I threw my hands up and said "Well it's too late to buy my Pickup Truck now!" a little to loud  :woot:

 

lol, in all fairness, I tend to get that kind of experience on any foreign airline.

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lol, in all fairness, I tend to get that kind of experience on any foreign airline.

 

With Commercials? I've never had them lol. Flown with British Airlines, Thomas Cook, KLM, Turkish Airlines. Not until I flew with Delta was I shown commercials, and I noticed that everything in my seat area had the Coca Cola logo on it somewhere  :rofl:.

 

That had its advantages though, always normally get Water or Juice with my meals, not Coca Cola, which I liked.

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I don't understand who's traveling with that many bags and doesn't know that there are restrictions in place, why did they they need that many for a trip?

 

Cheaper to FedEx them to your destination, and probably less of a chance of getting lost.

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With fees that obscene I don't blame them.

7 bags though? Who the ###### travels with 7 bags? If you're moving, use a god dam moving company...

The reason why airlines in the US now charge for ###### like packed bags, food etc is because people constantly keep complaining about ticket prices even though they're way cheaper than what they were 10-20 years ago.

Basically most, if not all, of the airlines costs have gone up, not gone down:

Fuel: Massively increased in the past decade or two.

Planes: Aren't really any cheaper, they either cost the same or cost more.

Maintenance: The price per hour probably hasn't changed and the parts are more expensive. Required MX hasn't changed either but less things probably break. So it's tough to say without figures from the airlines.

Pensions: Again, tough to say without figures from the airlines. But to use Delta as an example, they had $890 million net profit on $36 billion revenue. They spent over $1 billion on pensions alone.

More taxes and fees: Taxes, landing fees etc have all gone up.

Basically everything costs more for the airlines but ticket prices have still dropped significantly. Hence the need for fees. Is it fair? Depends. But if you don't like them, then be prepared to pay more for a ticket. Airlines aren't exactly rolling in profit, most US airlines have declared bankruptcy in the past decade.

I was on a flight from Orlando to Seattle (pretty much across the country) and the guy in the line in front of me was complaining about how his $400 round trip ticket was a rip off and how stuff was so much cheaper in the past. 1. No they weren't. 2. You can't get from Orlando to Seattle and back for cheaper than $400. If you were to drive it would cost you a hell of a lot more and take you like a week.

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If you think baggage fees are pathetic take a look at the breakdown of the taxes you pay for your plane ticket ;)

- September 11 (9/11) security fee (I wish I was ###### you that is an actual fee you pay for buying a plane ticket).

- US Ticket Tax - 7.5% of your ticket cost. Just a tax that goes to the federal government

- US Federal Segment Tax - No idea what this tax is for but it's just another tax the federal government charges you.

- Travel Facilities Tax - Want to fly to Alaska or Hawaii? Let's tax you for that too.

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