A great question, to be sure.  I’ve not been one who complains about “baggage fees” and other forms of unbundling, and I remain a person who is passionately indifferent.  But with US Airways recent announcement that it is raising fees for bags that weigh between 50 and 70 pounds from $50 to $90 dollars and for a 3rd checked bag from $100 to $125 dollars!  My personal favorite, the fee for checking in a bag that weighs 71 pounds (the weight that used to be the first to be considered overweight) is now a whopping $175 dollars!  That’s more than many roundtrip airfares US Airways charges, I’m certain.  I’m not positive, but I think if that 71 pound bag happens to be your 3rd bag, you pay $175 + $125!!  Can a reader confirm that?

Let’s be honest.  I don’t have the first clue what it costs an airline to ship a bag from point A to point B.  The one airline I worked for certainly knows that number to the penny.  Whether I know it or not, I’d bet money that number isn’t anywhere north of $100 dollars.  If US Airways’ new fees spread to the other airlines, you can rest assured that I will be convinced that baggage fees have begun to separate from reality.