How to Avoid Baggage Fees When Flying

TTT - Baggage Fees
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Jenn: [00:00:00] Hey everyone, and welcome back to Travel Tip Tuesday with the Travel Mug Podcast. Meggan, do you remember the days when checked bags were included in your airline ticket?

Meggan: It feels like a once upon a time story, but I do.

Jenn: It really does feel like a once in a upon a time story. So nowadays baggage fees apply to many ticket types, not even just the cheapest ones, which is really annoying, but there are ways around that. So I'm gonna share a couple little tricks that you can avoid or, uh, pay lower amounts for baggage fees.

Meggan: Okay.

Jenn: Okay, so. Get a credit card is the first thing I'm gonna talk about. So we just chatted with Barry Choi all about, uh, travel hacking, and we didn't really get into this, but some credit cards [00:01:00] include a free checked bag on certain airlines, which is a perk that you can get with some credit cards. So for instance, I have a TD Aeroplan Visa, which includes a checked bag on Air Canada flights.

So this could definitely be part of your like, overall travel hacking strategy. Um, and it, you don't even have to buy like a higher ticket fare. You still get the free one free bag.

Meggan: You have the card.

Jenn: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So the next little trick is to book a ticket that includes baggage, which is, you know, not technically avoiding paying for baggage, and you'll have to do some math, which I know, but sometimes I know. I know sometimes it makes more sense to book a higher fair class than to book a lower one and pay for things like bags and [00:02:00] seats separately.

Meggan: just did that today. It's, it's very easy and quick to do the math and calculate it 'cause it's both ways.

Jenn: Yep.

Meggan: so you have to be careful with that and do the calculations and it was cheaper to just get the, the higher fare.

Jenn: Yeah, I, I did that going to the Yukon, it was cheaper, but there has been instances where it has not been cheaper. So it's, you've gotta pay attention. It's, especially if you're traveling, Ryan and I do a lot, uh, only one checked bag for the two of us, so just to keep that in mind.

The next tip is if you're a frequent flyer, someone flies a lot and you can fly on the same airline. Getting a elite status may earn you checked bags. Of course, you're paying for all those flights, but if you're flying anyway and you can kind of stick to one airline, that's a perk that you can get.

So obviously flying carry on only is a [00:03:00] way that most of us, uh, avoid paying for luggage. But it's important to know the rules of the airline that you've booked and your ticket class because you don't want to get to the airport and surprised because some ticket classes don't even include a carry-on, and then you're gonna have to pay to check that at the airport and it's gonna be more expensive.

Meggan: Correct.

Jenn: Yeah. All right. So my last little tip is to know the rules and the exemptions. So, special equipment like wheelchairs, strollers, and car seats should usually be checked for free or should be checked for free at the gate. If you're traveling with sports equipment, check with your airline. Uh, for example, one equipment bag, uh, hockey equipment bag, and two sticks taped together, count as one piece of baggage on Air Canada. So

Meggan: That's the most Canadian [00:04:00] sentence you've ever spoken.

Jenn: it probably is. Yeah. , So that, it's good to know you don't have to pay for those things separately, but sports equipment bags cannot contain clothing or other personal items. They must be used to only carry sports equipment, so you can't sneak in more clothes that way.

Yeah. So Meggan, do you usually travel carry on only to avoid paying for bags? Like what is your strategy here?

Meggan: I'm just curious if you've ever met me

Jenn: Yeah, once or twice.

Meggan: This is a, this is a, this is a, a question that you know the answer to I'm sure. So I have gone carry on a few times and it is a delight. It is a delight not to have to wait for your bag at the end. All of the things about it are great. So I've done that on a few weekend trips to Montreal, one to Las Vegas, and it was enjoyable and came in very handy on the way back from Las Vegas because we were able to get an earlier flight and didn't [00:05:00] have to worry about where my bag was.

Jenn: Yeah. Nice.

Meggan: comes in handy. So I would say for shorter getaways, I'm up for it. Um, in terms of, longer trips, I just purchase the one bag check bag. We each per person.

Jenn: Gotcha. All right, so that is all we have for this week's travel tip Tuesday. We all wanna save a little bit of money, so if you can avoid paying for a bag when traveling, you can use that money for something more fun. That's my motto. So let us know what you do about, uh, paying for luggage when you travel on social media at Travel Mug Podcast.

We're on Facebook and Instagram. You can leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can support the show through Buy Me a Coffee and if you would share the show with a travel loving pal. We would love that very much, and we'll chat with you again soon. Bye.