Five Airlines Say No to Carry-On Fees

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.

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Spirit’s unpopular decision to start charging for most carry-ons in August is having a ripple effect. But unlike when one airline, then many others, started charging fuel surcharges or checked bag fees, the industry response to carry-on fees isn’t follow-the-leader.

Reuters reports that Senator Charles Schumer has gathered commitments from five airlines to not charge carry-on baggage fees. In phone calls with top executives at American, Delta, JetBlue, United, and US Airways, Schumer “received promises” that these airlines weren’t going to charge fees for carry-ons.

This comes a week after Schumer asked the Treasury Department to prohibit airlines from charging for carry-on bags and two senators proposed a bill that would ban airlines from charging carry-on fees.

Relieved? I know I am. Airlines haven’t let public outrage slow their pursuit of ancillary revenue from new fees in the past, but it’s good to see the line being drawn somewhere. Let’s just hope it sticks.

Do you think this new development will cause Spirit to rethink its new fee?

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