Having just flown from SF to Paris, this article drew may attention. - Zeno

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Shipping an Alternative to Baggage Fees
ALEX MCCARTHY - The Denver Post

If someone were to fly from Denver International Airport to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, when does it become cheaper to ship baggage beforehand?

Using different services, a large piece of luggage (31x24x12) weighing 50 pounds would cost:

FedEx: $27.73 on ground (three business days), $128.53 second day, $232.94 standard overnight.

UPS: $32.62 on ground (three business days), $128.53 second-day air, $232.94 next-day air.

DHL: $26.77 on ground (three business days), $125.89 second day, $228.18 next day.

Sports Express: $125.92 on three-business-days air, $158.15 two days, $301.46 overnight.
When bringing fewer outfits still left no space in her bag, Phoenix social worker Melissa Meierdirks decided to ship home her purchases during a business trip to Denver recently, "just to avoid the extra bag or the extra weight that could be charged for my bag."

Instead of trying to cram sweatshirts and glass souvenirs into an already-full bag to be checked on her flight home, Meierdirks shipped her mementos in one box via FedEx to the tune of about $30.

Meierdirks is among throngs of travelers trying to shed some weight from their baggage to trim the high cost of flying with it. Major airlines including United Airlines, US Airways and American Airlines have begun charging $15 to check the first bag and $25 for the second to counter high jet-fuel costs that are siphoning their profits.

Air Transport Association spokeswoman Victoria Day estimates the airline industry will spend $61 billion this year on fuel, $20 billion more than last year. United alone is looking at a $3.5 billion increase; spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said all of the $275 million it hopes to earn in baggage-handling fees will go toward paying that off.

The fee changes have sent passengers with baggage woes to shipping services such as Sports Express, baggage stores like Colorado Baggage Co. and even baby supply rental services like Baby's Away, all of which have recently seen a jump in business.

New clientele

Spokesman Josh Veryser of the Sports Express luggage- shipping service said he has seen an increase in both inquiries and orders since airlines started tacking on fees.

"It's something that definitely is helping our business, without a doubt," Veryser said. "Generally speaking, we tailor to the luxury traveler, but now that this stuff is happening, there are going to be more and more people booking the service that otherwise wouldn't have."

Sports Express, with operations and a call center in Durango, ships items such as luggage, golf clubs, bicycles and skis through FedEx, UPS or DHL. The difference is in the details: Veryser listed perks like a two-hour pickup window, delivery to hotels or resorts and back, and an on-time guarantee or the company will pay for rentals or replacements.

Jim Bray, a Durango real estate development consultant, tried the service for the first time in March when he had a business trip in Southern California for a little less than a week, then hooked up with family in Huntington Beach for a week.

The problem didn't come from packing two completely different wardrobes; Bray said he would rather not rent clubs to play golf on holiday, but he didn't want to lug his own around while on business.

Shipping "made it so simple without having to haul it around the airport, from hotel to hotel, and it just made it easy to transition from a business to a leisure trip," Bray said.

FedEx and UPS shipping services both track their shipments based on volume, not on contents, and spokesmen could not attribute increased volume to customers shipping baggage to avoid flying with it.

Courtney Moline, owner of Baby's Away baby supply rentals in Steamboat Springs, said rentals since mid-June have risen 10 percent over last year, double what even the best years' annual growth has been.

"It seems like we're definitely getting busier with the changes of the things they can bring on a plane," Moline said, adding that parents are packing fewer toys and sometimes even forgoing what used to be necessities like car seats and strollers.

The bill can be hefty - the average is $200 for packages containing combinations of cribs, high chairs, strollers, tubs of toys and hiking backpacks, but Moline, herself a mother of two, said it is worth it.

"A lot of it's the comforts of home - they sleep in a crib better when they travel because it's similar to what they have at home," Moline said. "It just makes the vacation better."

Rick Seaney, chief executive of the Farecompare.com airline ticket research website, expects that babies won't be the only ones throwing fits on the plane. He thinks there will be increased "air rage" as passengers fight over limited carry-on space, increasingly at a premium as airlines cancel and load existing flights more.

Breaking the rules

He projects more passengers will ditch their rolling checked bags in favor of overpacking their carry-ons to slip by with more than the allowed maximum weight and dimensions.

"For the most part, you're going to try to get away with as much as you can, but the baggage police are out there," Seaney said of the stepped-up limit enforcement many airlines are promising.

Seaney's prediction for more carry-ons is already playing out at Colorado Baggage Co.'s Fort Collins store, where downsizing is the name of the game.

Assistant Manager James Stallings said more customers are trading amenities for function and going for smaller bags, and luggage manufacturers are following suit in what they make.

"They're looking for bags without a lot of bells and whistles, without compartments - they just want to be able to pack as much as they can, so they're going lighter because of the weight restrictions, and they're looking for durability," Stallings said.

Another tactic people are turning to is packing cubes, multi-sized plastic or fabric bags with zippers that allow for compartmentalizing and compressing such things as shirts, toiletries and undergarments.

"They're now systematically packing instead of just throwing things in a bag," Stallings said.

Papa's brand new bag?

For some, changing what goes into the bag may come second to changing the bag itself to make every little bit of space count.

Fifteen years ago, former engineer Don Chernoff watched a fellow passenger struggle with putting a floppy and unwieldy garment bag into the overhead bin.

He calls the brainchild from that experience SkyRoll, a garment bag that rolls up around a tube for other belongings and goes over a shoulder. A subsequent product, SkyRoll on wheels, wrapped the garment bag around a suitcase that comes to 22 inches by 14 inches by 9 inches, just at the 45-inch total dimension most U.S. carriers allow for carry-ons.

Chernoff suspects most of the 2,000 bags a month he sells from his Virginia-based website and at Men's Wearhouse retail stores are to business travelers, and he expects that number to double or triple by year's end.

"If it happens to you once on a vacation, you might say, 'I'll live with it,' but for the regular or business traveler, if they have to pay $15 every time they fly, they're going to start looking for a new suitcase," Chernoff said.

Business travelers, due to more frequent travel and less wiggle room with their clothing choices, are hit particularly hard by fees paid ad hoc at the gate.

Pam McTeer, the president for Rocky Mountain Business Travel Association, said member corporations have seen travel budgets for airfare, car rentals and hotels rise about 20 percent from January through April, and she estimates that could almost double by the end of the year at the rate airline charges and fuel prices for rental cars are going.

Conferences and trade shows pose a problem with materials and props, McTeer said - many presenters go with enough for several additional checked bags. Conference organizers are trying to curb those costs by offering shipping services that are often cheaper than paying for extra bags.

Another possible solution: companies in the association are looking at their travel policies to see whether they can divest of travel altogether in favor of webcast meetings and conference calls, McTeer said.

Schlepping vs. shipping

To check or to ship is the question many passengers find themselves asking before flying nowadays, with baggage fees and other charges stacking up for the summer and beyond.

The typical checked bag can be up to 62 linear inches (length+width+height) and weigh up to 50 pounds. A carry-on is usually 45 linear inches.

Which baggage fees apply to what tickets can pose some confusion because of the different dates on which the various airline fees go into effect. United Airlines, for example, has baggage fees for tickets purchased on or after June 13 for travel on or after Aug. 18, but not before.

Major airlines including United, US Airways and American Airlines, are charging $15 to check the first bag and $25 to check a second. Delta isn't charging for a first bag but charges $50 for a second checked bag.

Oversized baggage usually measures 62 to 115 linear inches and weighs 50 to 100 pounds. Cost: $100 or $125 per bag. A third checked bag usually counts as excess baggage. Cost: $100 or $125 per bag.

To pack or to ship?

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimates that the average distance flown per passenger in March was 880 miles, roughly the air-mile distance between Denver and Chicago.