New Report Calls for Free First Checked Bag

There's a 95 percent chance Senior Editor Christine Sarkis is thinking about travel right now. Follow her on Instagram @postcartography and Twitter @ChristineSarkis.

Christine Sarkis is an SATW-award-winning journalist and executive editor at SmarterTravel. Her stories have also appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Her advice has been featured in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, and Here & Now. Her work has been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008. She is currently working on a travel memoir.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: The Trtl Pillow. It's easy to pack and comfortable, and makes it so I can actually sleep on flights.

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Seeing the Aurora Borealis from the comfort of somewhere warm, like a glass igloo or hot spring.

Travel Motto: Curiosity is an amazing compass.

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: Aisle all the way.

Email Christine Sarkis at editor@smartertravel.com.

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How much does it cost to not check a bag? If you remember back to earlier this month, the figure was $260 million. That was according to the TSA estimate of how much more the agency has had to spend in screening carry-ons since airlines started charging passengers for their first checked bags. The proposed fix to the budget shortfall was an increase in passenger facility charges, which would make passengers responsible for a situation the airlines had basically created.

Now, the U.S. Travel Association has released a report that recommends allowing travelers to check at least one free bag to address the issue of overburdened security checkpoints.

The report also calls on Congress to authorize the TSA to create a new trusted traveler program to speed security screenings of frequent travelers, and it encourages the airline industry and government to take a series of steps to streamline the entire airport screening process.

The U.S. Travel Association has 1,300 member organizations comprised of travel service providers, destinations, and travel associations. The airlines have their own association—the Air Transport Association (ATA)—and as you might guess, it’s not keen on the baggage recommendations. Baggage and other ancillary fees have emerged as a major source of revenue in recent years, and airlines are unlikely to give up that golden goose without a fight. According to Travel Weekly, ATA responded to the report by saying, “dictating how airlines deliver and price their products and services diminishes customer choice and competitive differentiation among carriers.”

Do you agree with the U.S. Travel Association or the ATA? Should first-checked-bag fees be eliminated to ease the crunch at security?

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