USA's two biggest carriers raise bag fees

[alh1020]

You may soon have to pay more if you check bags on the nation's two biggest airlines.
Both United Continental and Delta are upping their fees for checking a second bag on trans-Atlantic flights, The Associated Press reports.

Each company still allows customers to check one bag free of charge, but checking a second bag on United Continental will now cost $70. On Delta, a second bag will now cost $60 if checked online or $75 if checked at the airport.

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Previously, each had charged $50 for a second checked bag to Europe.

Delta also is adding bag fees on its flights to Mexico and Central America, instituting a $30 charge to a second checked bag. That had been free prior to the change.

And, in one other fee-related move, Delta is eliminating a small discount that it had offered to domestic customers for checking their bags online.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes Delta "is discontinuing its $2 or $3 discount for paying the fee online rather than at the airport. The fees will remain $25 for bag 1 and $35 for bag 2."

Delta spokesman Morgan Durant called the move a "competitive response," noting to the Journal-Constitution that none of Delta's main rivals offer such a discount.

USA's two biggest carriers raise bag fees - USATODAY.com