Checked bag fees add to hassle of flying

Of the carriers serving Pittsburgh International, only Southwest still lets each passenger check two pieces of luggage (under 50 pounds each) at no extra cost. Continental, Delta, JetBlue and Northwest continue to take one checked bag for free, but charge $25 for the second. The biggest changes will come at American, United and US Airways, which will begin collecting a $15 fee for the first checked bag, $25 for the second and more for additional bags. These charges apply each way, so the round-trip luggage fee for one checked bag will be $30.

Although the new fees won't kick in for most US Airways and United customers until July and August, respectively, and won't generally apply to passengers heading overseas or with preferred frequent flier status, they are likely to impact on everyone's flying experience.

We'll immediately see more travelers trying to cram everything into a single bag they can carry onto the plane for free. That by itself is certain to complicate the security process, with more people having to pack and unpack their luggage to get through security X-rays.

And fitting all those bags into overhead bins won't be easy with so many more flights now involving smaller aircraft with narrow aisles and reduced overhead storage space.

Already the number of bags being "gate checked" has increased by passengers who carry their own suitcases to and from the gates where they are loaded on and off the plane, trying to save time and eliminate the misrouting of their luggage. Now many more passengers who arrive at the gate to discover they're flying on a smaller plane may be forced to gate check even small roll-on bags.

It's worth pointing out the self-defeating irony in this arrangement. Since the carriers still must bear the jet fuel costs for transporting these gate-checked bags, all they save is the expense of moving them through the terminals, which is generally done on expensive conveyor systems that often have been only recently re-fitted with high-tech security systems.

There are other complications. Since they can't generally be prepaid when tickets are purchased, fees must be collected at check-in counters. In addition to necessitating many more monetary transactions at that point, further straining already lean personnel staffs and lengthening check-in times, this means that luggage fees for return flights must be collected separately. Thus travelers will have to make sure they have enough money at the end of their trip to pay to get their bag home. And parents sending children on unaccompanied journeys will have one more worry.

So while these new baggage fees probably won't prevent people from flying, they will diminish the overall travel experience. When coupled with other uncertainties such as soaring ticket prices, lack of nonstop options and flight schedule meltdowns, it's easy to understand why many people are thinking twice about traveling by air or deciding not to go at all.

That's a shame, because with some rational re-adjustments, the situation could be much better. Without those changes, travelers in the future will look back on these as the good old days.