And The Airline Fees Continue

American Airlines is the first of the major airlines to tack on a fee for the first checked bag, but they wont be the last. It wont be long before other airlines follow suit. No one wants to be first but following the leader is a game they are all good at for sure. Jokes have been running rampant about what will be the next thing to cost extra. Some of the funnier ones to date have been a pay toilet paper dispenser and pay to use the overhead space for carry on luggage. Even if the airlines have not been thinking about it, reading may just give them some ideas. Realistically it looks like the beverage service will no longer be complimentary in the near future. We have been paying for alcoholic drinks for a while now, but soft drinks, water, and coffee may be requiring us to have correct change soon. Will this drive people away from flying? I doubt it. Given the alternatives, people will learn to either pay for their new found luxuries or to do without in many cases. Doing without will not be an easy task when it comes to checked luggage, and when the other airlines follow suit, its going to be something we all will have to figure into the cost of travel. For a family flying to go on a cruise all the new fees add up so quickly that its almost like paying for an extra person when its all said and done. Ouch!