I hate baggage fees. I hate fees in general, but I especially hate paying for something that has been free for almost all of my life. That is why I bothered to read this article on “7 Smart Ways To Bypass Baggage Fees” at MSNBC. I was sorely disappointed by the article and what they left out.
Credit Cards Are One Of The Keys To Eliminating Baggage Fees
I wrote earlier this year that reward cards are evolving from “points to perks”. I mentioned that both Continental and Delta are offering to waive baggage fees for holders of their branded credit cards from Chase and Amex respectively. Unfortunately, the MSNBC article lists all sorts of ideas from the obvious to the pointless, yet fails to mention these credit card perks. One of their incredibly obvious suggestions is to join a frequent flier program to obtain elite status. I am sorry, but if you fly enough that you would have made elite status (more than 25,000 flown miles in a calendar year), and you didn’t bother to join the frequent flier program, you are probably someone who retired long before the invention of frequent flier programs. There is little chance you are using a computer to read MSNBC if you are one of those people.
The most pointless advice is to ship your luggage, as they admit that it costs more and takes longer than checking your bags. While they don’t mention it, this would only seem to make sense to someone who is unable to carry their bags. Another pointless piece of advice they offer is to spend $495 on a 7 pound “lightweight” suitcase. Apparently, the travel geniuses at MSNBC has never heard of a dufflebag, which is cheap and weighs about a pound.
I am reminded of an article that I had written some time ago on my personal website about Smart Tips vs. Stupid Tips. I just had no idea that MSNBC would eventually come up with even dumber tips and actually label them as smart.
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