EU to ban carry-on baggage fees | Hacker News Reader

EU to ban carry-on baggage fees

bbc.com

71 pointskelnos115 comments

Charging extra for bags and other incidentals wouldn't have been a problem if airlines didn't push it to the extreme and start running borderline scams. A family I know was recently forced to pay €55 per ticket at the check in counter for the privilege of having an agent print their boarding pass. Of course there will be backlash.

It's been great for frequent travellers. Our cheap flights were subsidised by people who don't bother to follow basic instructions, or try to take the piss and take way too much on board hoping they wouldn't be caught.

If the charges didn't exist the cost would just be spread out across all travellers.

I think the sheer level of opportunistic price gauging demonstrates that no, this isn't just the cost of things. They're trying to squeeze every penny. That means you, too, unfortunately.

Yeah, as another frequent flyer I find the parent's comment borderline delusional. Things have way shittier across the board post-covid. Just the other day, I noticed an airline turn their economy tickets fron three tiers to six, in an attempt to decouple baggage allowance and flight change options. Being able to change your flight now cost 3x as much than it did before.

Prices are up since covid but I haven’t noticed anything shittier, I fly in Asia though.

Yes, and that's a good thing.

My comment was more about the fees. The law is actually relating to the carry on bags which are separate, sorry for being confusing.

The EU law is good if the ticket price doesn't rise up, but I fear it will go up the same amount as the bag used to cost.

It also removes the ability to optimise. Even if you pack light, buy clothes at the destination, or send your stuff by mail - you still pay for a bag. And as another poster said, it'll encourage people to take more luggage, which won't all fit in the overhead compartments.

Does it actually cost the airline more money to allow this? They already allow underseat luggage, where you can store even heavier bags. They were limiting the size of the bag unnecessarily (even though there is plenty of room under the seat for a bigger bag).

I think they will raise the prices at first, but eventually they will find another way to extort money from passengers and having a reasonably sized carry-on bag will become norm.

Michael O'Leary actually explained this. They simply do not want people coming to the airport and having to print their boarding pass and want to incentivize people doing online checkin as much as possible. €55 is a rounding error to even Ryanair.

If you didn't do this; and it was say a more reasonable €5 - or even free, you'd get a lot of people coming to the airport without a boarding pass. This is actually super expensive to offer, because it's not the cost of staff itself, it's the fact you need to rent a desk off the airport, and it turns out airport desk space is _not_ cheap. Flights are often very peaky too, so you might need 5-10 check in desks to cover the morning rush, which are then empty for the next few hours. Or don't and you get hammered in the press for huge queues and people missing flights because it took an hour to print a boarding pass.

This EU legislation is also poorly thought through. As many have said I've often done same day or one night trips for work where I do not need anything past a backpack. Now a lot of people will take cabin baggage that could have otherwise took a rucksack, but the problem is a high density LCC airplane configuration does not have enough overhead luggage space for that. So now you need to check it in, which is expensive for the airline and time consuming for the passenger.

It would be far simpler for them to require flight fares/price comparison sites to include one piece of overhead cabin baggage in the cost, with a discount available (but no ability to advertise that price until late in checkout). This would allow comparisons to work properly across airlines, which is what I assume was the end goal here.

Either way it's not a big deal and I don't think should have been a priority for the EU.

I tried to check into a Ryanair flight online about 1hr55m before take off and was refused because it was less than 2hrs before takeoff but they were quite happy to print the thing for 100 euro at the airport. I feel they were more concerned with grabbing the money than avoiding using their printer.

Does have an impact though checking in at the last minute (whether it is 1h55 though I couldn't say, but you do need a cut off). If you can get everyone checked in as early as possible then you can do a lot of the preflight calculations earlier and be more likely to leave on time.

I'm feeling like some Ryanair apologist, which I'm not, I just think that it's a bit reductive to go "boarding pass costs x when it is a piece of paper!". If you listen to LCCs talk about their operations you start realising these fees are not solely about money but efficiency via incentives.

NB one thing I'd slate Ryanair for is only opening check in 24 hours before unless you have priority, that is extremely annoying and definitely designed to push you to priority.

Nope, all bullshit.

- The fee is absolutely not a rounding error to Ryanair. We are talking about tickets that cost €9-15. They rely on these extra charges to make their money back.

- They already have counters at the airport. In fact you have to go to them to drop off check in bags and/or weigh your carry ons.

- Mobile boarding passes already exist, and most other airlines use them. If it was really about cost savings Ryanair & co. would embrace them fully.

Ryanair already has mobile boarding passes and have done for I want to say at least 10 years?

You honestly think Ryanair makes serious money from reprinting boarding passes? I doubt I have ever seen anyone at the Ryanair ticket desk at STN for example. That compares to the 50k+ passengers a day that go through STN on Ryanair. Baggage charges of course, as is with food, but boarding passes is not a money maker for them.

Those counters don't typically print tickets, it's a different "ticketing" counter.

While I generally support Ryanair, there's something to be said about their boarding passes.

If you book their flights via agent (I had because of somewhat complex flight and I didn't want to enter details 4 times) then you can't really access their checkin page since agent uses their email address and Ryanair doesn't let you just use PNR + Name anymore (increasingly popular with other airlines too). My agency was still sleeping at the time of flight and badaboom badabing I had to pay €200+ for checking in 6 people.

Yeah but this very much intentional, because Ryanair (especially) do not want to be sold via agents. They have went to pretty extreme lengths to stop it. They do not want to be disintermediated (rightly or wrongly).

FWIW they do now have a page where you can verify with just email + PNR https://onlineform.ryanair.com/gb/en/customer-verification

They even do it to bookings made through their own website. Bookings in my old account were constantly blocked after I made them. Each time, I received an email saying that I had booked through a third-party agent and that I had to verify my account. I complained about it every time. Once, they even promised that it had been fixed, but the same thing happened on the next booking. This verification process takes a couple of days, or you can opt for a paid express option. I eventually decided to delete my old account and create a new one after a while, but the same thing kept happening and support didn't even care.

> Those counters don't typically print tickets, it's a different "ticketing" counter.

WTF are you talking about? (a) Ticketing counters sell tickets. (b) To print a boarding pass you just need a printer, which is already present on ALL baggage drop off counters. It is the same printer that prints the baggage labels.

Most LCCs make you go to a ticketing counter to print boarding passes and have done for some time. You do not want to hold the luggage queue up with printing out boarding passes. Same with visa checks.

The last time I flew with Ryanair, I was told that I couldn't board using the PDF ticket and that I had to download their app. I was already late, so I had no choice but to comply. Ryanair is a truly disgusting company by any measure.

It’s a small bag. 7kg is hardly anything. Like a purse or a laptop. Definitely would fit under the seat in front of you. Since that space is reserved for the ticketed passenger, billing for that really feels like double dipping anyhow.

Good for the EU.

Ryanair include a "small" carry-on bag (40x25x20cm) that goes under the seat in front of you - they charge for the extra larger carry-on bag that goes in the overhead locker. (We just travelled with Ryanair and their website does try to trick you into paying for the extra bag - as we had bought the 20kg checked-in bags we didn't want the overhead space as well)

A lot of people use only that 7kg carry-on allowance to travel. 7kg can easily hold clothes, toiletries, laptop. Most of the time you can carry a personal item (purse/laptop) in addition to your main bag.

Thing is, the majority of people pay for a carry on allowance or checked-in luggage, so this rule isn't going to make airlines cheaper. The ticket prices will just go up to match.

For me, the main change is not about the weight, but the size

> cabin bag measuring up to 100cm

> as well as an under-the-seat personal item with a maximum size of 40x30x15cm

Right now almost all (if not all) EU lowcosters only allow bags with a volume of around 20 litres. Anything larger costs extra.

7(-9) kg is the standard allowance for overhead luggage. It's not just for purses.

Excellent news.

I think Ryanair was a trend setter back in the day for charging for absolutely everything.

So much that that a song was written about it (published 14 years ago): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAg0lUYHHFc

> Excellent news.

Terrible news. Flying is way too cheap as it is.

I know that every single opinion will have someone that holds the opposite, but I didn’t expect to see one for “flying is cheap” so quickly.

Can you explain your meaning or rationale? I’m guessing eco-/environment related?

Environment related, yes. But also the way government subsidies in EU give flights an unfair advantage over better methods of transport

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_aviation_fuel_taxation

Ryanair also jacked up their prices once they removed competitors from same routes.

What is "cabin bag measuring up to 100cm" in the article supposed to mean?

Are these the combined dimensions? I.e. W + D + H?

Edit: to answer my own question, that seems to indeed to be the meaning according to [1]. And it can weigh a max. of 7kg.

Most airlines in the EU currently allow 10kg for cabin baggage and people got used to that. So that's where they will probably have a (new) way to keep charging fees.

[1] https://ftnnews.com/travel-news/aviation/eu-plans-to-ban-car...

This is it. People take more than 7kg because it's replaced their checked in bag

EU will claim a massive victory (with very little mention for the 7kg limit in their PR headlines), which is largely all the want. But airlines will carry on selling 8kg plus bags probably for even more than before

If this wasn't done in negotiation with airlines I would be very surprised

Doesn't this mean that they'll just include the fees in the price for everyone?

I assume the motivation is to rein in something seen as semi-deceitful advertising. If you're advertising a lower price because you're excluding the cost of something that much of the competition already has baked in, that you know a high percentage of your customers will end up paying for, who is that really benefiting?

A market isn't made more efficient by consumers having to do more research and homework around "what are the hidden fees that might surprise me?"

I haven't flow budget airlines in the EU but in the US the budget ones often end up more expensive for the average customer after re-adding all the fees. So it's not just "don't charge people who won't use it," it's "have leverage to charge more for it by making people only realize they have to pay for it later."

(Though to be completely honest, carry-on baggage has gone fairly nuts since airlines started charging for checked bags.)

Yes, in practice this increases price transparency. Imagine everything could be monetized. They could charge for access to the bathroom, or water. What is the minimum expectation of what is included in the price of a ticket?

I'm against charging for bathrooms, water, or other such basic human needs while you are in the custody of the airline for the duration of travel. There should be a basic standard of human care that includes those things. Food should also be included for flights over 5-ish hours.

Carry-on fees are a whole another level of shittiness though. I, the customer, am the one carrying the bag, there should be no reason to charge for it.

It's like charging extra for wearing a red shirt or charging extra for wearing a hat.

> I, the customer, am the one carrying the bag, there should be no reason to charge for it.

It's on the plane, so it takes up some of the limited storage space, and increases the weight of the plane, which means more fuel burned.

Saying you carry the bag so there's no reason to charge for it is like saying you carry yourself onto the plane, so there's no reason to charge you for the flight ticket.

So either they build the average per-passenger cost into the price of every ticket, or they charge a fee only for people who want to take on the extra bag.

Airlines already use an average cost per passenger.

What you are looking for is charging passengers per weight.

In practice, flights.google.com doesn't know the price of a luggage. So you might think a Easyjet/Ryanair ticket is cheaper, but I have had situations where actually after adding the luggage for every passenger the normal airline is €30 cheaper in total. And you get a free drink plus snack.

Honestly, it would be much better for transparency reasons if budget airlines offer a discount for no luggage instead of an extra fee.

What is the minimum expectation of what is included in the price of a ticket?

The expectation that you eventually reach your destination alive.

That's it, from the airlines' perspective.

> The expectation that you eventually reach your destination alive.

Tell me, when you fly as freight do pay to have the box labelled "fragile" :)

What is the minimum expectation of what is included in the price of a ticket?

A seat.

Certainly a bathroom has to be included, you can't lock people in a tube in the sky and then not let them pee.

But I believe Ryanair considered trying not to use seats at one point.

Actually you can do exactly that, at least in the US. I've been stuck on a plane more than once and told I couldn't use the restroom

That sounds unlikely - did they give a reason (e.g. toilet cannot be used when the fasten seatbelt light is on during turbulence/landing/take-off)

The reason was because they said so.

Keep in mind, I also had a flight attendant tell me that using Zoom on a plane is a felony.

Which airline(s) was that, so that we can avoid them?

Then they will have to hire cleaners, because I will shit and pee all over the seat.

I've never personally seen someone do that but I have heard stories of this happening before.

I have incontinence, so I either wear diapers (still going to pee and defecate regardless), or I have access to the bathroom in time. If I wear diapers, there is going to be odor contamination in the area. It is bad for others, and for me, and their business too, I assume. Depends on the length of the trip; I try to limit fluid intake to zero before I go outside.

Ryanair also considered charging for bathrooms.

Although in both cases, it's hard to tell if they were serious, or just doing PR.

It’s not hard to tell at all.

At peak season every year, O’Leary says something crazy like they are going to charge for the bathroom, or charge fat people extra, or get rid of arm rests, or have standing room only. The tabloids run the story, and always mention how cheap the flights are, including whatever the cheapest deal at the moment is.

It’s very, very obvious advertising. The tabloids go along with it because it makes people angry, which drives traffic.

Seats are not included in all bus or train tickets :)

The only reason the seat is necessary on a plane is for safety.

I'd include air and a seatbelt

in a more civilized time there would be a bit more than that.

Up until 1978 there was a lot more than this in the US. This is where we see photos of carts that brought prime rib to passengers and people in suits toasting with champaign glasses and there was so much space in the aisle that you could pass by service carts. It was like that because airlines were extremely regulated and not allowed to compete on price. So they competed on what was included. The result was photos of "a more civilized time" but also that almost nobody could afford to fly.

I've probably paid more for a single beer than some of my flights.

Also business flights are kinda affordable if you really shop around.

I’m not talking about steaks. I’m talking about basic human rights, like a glass of water and access to a restroom.

That's what they are scaring everyone with:

> Europe's airline market is built on choice. Forcing a mandatory trolley bag strips passengers of that choice and obliges passengers to pay for services they may not want or need

In any case I'm for it, I'm sick of finding how much am I really paying after 10 minutes of form filling. Price comparators are absolutely useless since they don't include such basic fees like a small trolley.

Ryanair is now introducing a sickness charge to better allow for flow management, if you're sick of dark patterns you'll have to pay 2€ more on top of the other charges

No. That's not how pricing works. The price of a ticket might go up slightly, but it won't go up by the same amount as the fees cost.

This is due to supply and demand. Basically the price of something depends partly on how much people are willing to pay for it. On average, people don't value the extra cabin baggage at the price the airline charges, so they can't charge everyone that fee. It would be inefficient and they would lose money if they tried.

They might increase prices a little... But the most efficient price increase might be surprisingly small.

Is there a cost for it though? They don't carry cargo when someone chooses not to buy carry-on baggage right and they don't charge people per kg anyway.

It's not even like one of those tricks for upselling as for most people 0 baggage doesn't make sense and it turns into a hidden fee.

So I guess they will increase the prices of 20 + 40 tickets to 50 to compensate for all the lost cabin baggage sales and some people will be really upset that they can't have the 20 tickets anymore. Meanwhile people will be able to compare the full cost of their flight with the cost of a train or bus alternatives.

IMHO they should make it compulsory to display the minimum cost of transfer to the airport. Often those 9EUR Ryanair tickets actually cost 100EUR+ because they fly to airports that don't have reasonable transfer options and you pay multiples of your flight for transport to and from the airport.

When you put in all the costs you realize that 9EUR plane tickets is more expensive than 100EUR+ train ticket.

Presumably. They truly want to bill per kilo of baggage and passenger per ticket but they’d be sued into oblivion for that.

Yes, airfare will be slightly more spread across everyone who flies, vs everyone paying for this except those only traveling with a personal belonging.

At some point, you have to say no to further enshittification and price discrimination optimization.

Yes. At the same time though, the airline companies cannot infinitely increase prices.

Effectively, this is government-mandated bundling. Now you must buy the extra service when taking a flight, whether you require it or not.

Which is probably totally fine - the statistics would speak the truth here. Funny how the airlines have this data but are not presenting it here, curious thing...

I would pay for a reserved spot to store my bag. Now that most US airlines are charging ordinary customers for checked luggage, there is insufficient overhead bin space on almost every flight. This has resulted in a secondary effect of a great rush to be the first one onboard, to be able to claim the limited overhead space without having to check your bag. This means I end up spending more time crammed into a tiny seat. If they let me reserve the spot above my seat, I'd be willing to spend the $25. However, if they force you to pay for it, how do they guarantee the space will be open?

I would rather see them ban the dark patterns that nudge you to buy a "premium" ticket when you just want to add a luggage item and couldn't care less about priority boarding and whatnot. I am a fairly experienced traveller but I still get scammed by this from time to time. Now I'll instead have to pay for cabin luggage even when I want to travel with backpack only.

I'm all against dark patterns, but how can you ban them?

Even after EU explicitly trying to curb dark patterns for website cookies, I can't recall having ever seen the "only functional cookies" option displayed in the same UI language as the "all cookies" option. The latter will always the one that is prominently highlighted.

They can easily solve non-compliant cookie consent flows if they chose to actually enforce the astronomical fines everyone has been fear-mongering about. But they don't - the process of actually going from complaint to fine is convoluted, lengthy and the data protection agencies clearly don't appear to want to be investigating or fining anyone.

My relative travels a lot, a lot of it on Ryanair (no other options as they dominate some routes). She's always been happy with it and especially now as new carry-on baggage fees as it eliminated people trying to gamble the system and you actually finally have space to put your bag.

Seems like an all round good thing.

Capitalism has an ugly downside: when growth stops, shareholders continue to demand the same or more growth even though there isn’t any to be had. Customers get screwed until there’s an intervention.

Score one for functional government!

You can't just ban all unpopular or unpleasant things without incurring some side-effects. This particular regulation will simply raise the price floor for the cheapest flights.

What about students flying somewhere for the weekend on Ryanair armed with only a credit card and (maybe) an extra pair of underpants? Do they now have to subsidize my carry-on bag?

there's unpleasant and there's legal scams.

also, look a bit further. they want to make rail competitive. here they're doing it in classic EU manner of raising the cost of competition instead of making rail more efficient (it is a nightmare to buy tickets for cross-border travel.)

How's it a scam to charge people getting onto a plane for the extra weight and volume and time taken up by the carry-on?

Unless you're saying the EU is trying to boost rail by making air travel more expensive with the carry-on rule.

I dunno maybe my 10kg carryon luggage shouldn't subsidize your 5kg backpack.

Id say 90% of my flights I don't take carry on luggage. This is about things that have to go in overhead bin. Backpacks that fit under your seat have always been free.

You can easily carry 2 weeks of clothes in a backpack. I guess goodbye to 20 euro flight deals it is because they're just gonna raise all the prices by 50 bucks to compensate I guess

> You can easily carry 2 weeks of clothes in a backpack.

As somebody who was recently 2 weeks abroad, no you can't. My backpack would have laptop, chargers and 2 weeks of underwear and would be full. Unless you are talking about some huge hiking style backpack, but that won't get into cabin because personal will force you to check it in.

Two weeks of clothes in a 40x30x15 backpack? Do you change once a week or what?

You know other countries have laundries too, right?

But then I would not call it "2 weeks of clothes". Otherwise 2 pieces of everything would "clothes for the rest of your life", but this is not what people mean with "clothes for x days".

There is no way more than 1 day worth of clothes fit in a backpack, and this does not include accessories. Am I just supposed to buy clothes at the destination country?

Not sure what your definition of a backpack is but I was just traveling for over a week with this one and it was no problem to fit over a weeks worth of clothes, toiletries etc there

https://www.tomtoc.com/products/40l-travel-backpack-carry-on

Can it fit 5-7 underwear, 5 shirts, and 3 sweatpants, a couple of sweatshirts or hoodies and 1 jacket (might be cold where I am going), maybe 1 jeans, 2 different shoes (in a box)? I highly doubt it. On the photos of your backpack, seems like only 3 jeans fit, that is maybe 2-3 hoodies. This does not include toiletries.

How many and what kind of clothes did you carry and what was your folding method (if you can explain)? I can't believe "weeks worth".

It really depends on your personality doesn't it? If I was travelling for a week I would take one pair of trousers, the ones I am wearing on the plane. One pair of shoes, maybe two outers, one shirt/pants/socks per day. If you need more then a backpack isn't going to work.

Can take even less if you do laundry once at the half way point.

It sure does. :)

It also depends on where we are going. If I am going to the Middle East, I will not need much besides two robes. :D

Alaska? Yeah, gotta pack up.

I had something like 9 pairs of t-shirts, underwear and socks, 1 or 2 (don't remember) extra long sleeved cotton shirt and 1 extra pair of jeans plus shampoos, moisturizer, toothbrush and paste, shaving stuff, 10 inch tablet, chargers, headphones, passport etc. Yes they fit quite nicely believe or not. This was scotland about a month ago.

My folding method was: get some cheap packing cubes, one large with shirts (just flat), one smaller with underwear and socks (just put there) and one with toiletries, nothing special at all. You can stuff lot more than you think into 40 liters. Jeans and sometimes jacket I just stuffed there.

btw I was able to sneak that backpack to ryanair flight even :-D

Sounds interesting if you could fit all that in the backpack you linked. I might give it a try.

More than 1 day is easy.

You can wear shorts/jeans multiple days, so just need multiple underwear and socks. Pack some light t-shirts and shirts rolled up.

Merino wool t-shirts and some other natural materials can be worn multiple days.

Also depends on weather, if it's winter and not sweating and humid you could wear the same top multiple days too.

If it is winter, you will need sweatshirts/hoodies and a jacket, too, though, and they can take up a lot of space.

As per hiking.

Base layer (thin material), mid (fleece) and waterproof/windproof shell (light).

Good. Now do the same for the volatility of train ticket prices, please? If you want people not to destroy the planet, make sure they can afford the more ecological routes.

I was forced to purchase 73EUR priority ticket for few LP records few weeks ago. They don't fit into Wizair specified backpack, so I know it is against the rules if I carry them separately, but come on, it's few hundred grams and they're very slim, don't take any place in overhead storage. So I'm looking forward for this regulation, even if tickets get few euros more expensive, it would be a win for me as LPs are a great souvenir since you remember the journey each time you play it.

Yay for EU.

Should an airline charge more for a heavier passenger.. because technically the plane does more lifting. Should a restaurant charge for cutlery?

It's good to rein in enshittification everywhere.

What they should do instead is require minimum price per km flown. Not a tax, just cut the bullshit of 1 eur plane tickets. That would stop people from flying unless they really need to

I don't like this as I usually just take hold luggage only, and a small bag.

Why is this somewhere the government had to intervene? The only role of government here should be in ensuring sufficient competition and information for the purchaser.

> Why is this somewhere the government had to intervene?

Because some airlines have crazy fee structures that makes comparing prices impossible.

Streamlining services fosters fair competition.

I prefer to take carry on and not have any hold luggage for short trips.

If it is carry on, it's with you at all times and unlikely to get lost or damaged.

Some airlines (looking at you, Ryanair) really exploit the system. Cabin luggage can cost triple the price of the actual ticket, and that extra fee only pops up later on during the booking process.

What’s worse, you’re forced to buy a bundle with ‘Priority Boarding’ just to get cabin luggage - no option to buy it alone.

The ‘priority boarding’ option is a scam in itself: you pay extra just to stand around in a crowded corridor for about 30-40 minutes while the last passengers get off and the plane, then the cleaning crew takes the trash out of the plane. Ryanair planes don't seem to get cleaned anymore between two flights, no time for that.

If you think this will bamboozle Ryanair and that they don't already have a plan to make money off this change I think you're mistaken

Don't fall for the "this will make people without cabin bags pay more" line. That's not really how pricing works.

> I don't like this...I just take...and a small bag.

That's the thing they're charging for :)

> Why is this somewhere the government had to intervene?

I am skeptical of intervention generally, but #1) it got out of hand entirely, particularly RyanAir, #2) they're intervening because that's the law. They're finally getting around to enforcing it. This is where the They the People drew a line w/r/t opportunity to charge fees.

Most importantly, you didn't expect to get charged the fee for your small bag. That gives us a revealed preference, the most honest of all.

No, I have travelled with RyanAir extensively - a small underseat bag is included right now. Just not cabin luggage.

Letter of the RyanAir rule is if it fits 40cm x 20cm x 25cm - I got what felt like a rushed extortion attempt myself about 8 months based on that.

Had a couple flights where it sort felt like the Best Buy Protection Plan sales scenario, where that was what the gate's crew perceived as a core duty.

(I hear ya, I was going to go with the more concise argument that this is about price transparency, rather than go off experience or handwaving about anecdotes or "everyone knows...", but realized it'd just turn into anecdata vs. anecdata)

Because Ryanair's default is one tiny bag, in which you can only take clothes for 2 days. Even another tiny bag or shopping bag is not included.

I don't mind it honestly.

I'm the one carrying the bag, not them. If they aren't doing work they should not be allowed to charge extra.

They provide space for it which is limited and paying fuel to transport it. There usually is more demand them overhead space as well, so charging for it actually solves an allocation problem just like charging for parking does.

Then charge passengers by weight. If a 6kg bag commands €80 extra then why should a 50kg passenger pay the same as a 150kg one?

I think they should do that, or something similar to what courier services use: a combination of weight and volume. It's common for kids under a certain age to already be charged less.

I believe that's illegal but might be mistaken. From an ethical perspective is also nothing the passenger can easily control

The delta between the typical obese person and my weight is much more than the typical weight of my carry-on bag. There is zero reason to charge for the carry-on bag if you don't also charge the obese person.

Precisely. What is up with the obese requiring 2 seats? Do they pay 2x the ticket or not? I need up to date information.

Because of the general enshitification : of course companies will have that on font 3 then at the last minute when you have invested 30 minutes of your clicking through "no I don't want an insurance", "no I am sure I don't want an insurance", "no I don't want to upgrade", "no I don't want a new credit card" then btw it is $20 for your onboard luggage and $10 administrative free to add it...

Now it'll be "do you want an 8kg / 10kg / 12kg cabin bag. Anything over 7kg will be charged €150 at the airport where it'll be weighed"

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