UPS, FedEx win on airline baggage fees

UPS   FEDEX    AIRLINES

Global - Package delivery companies like UPS and FedEx are benefitting from irate passengers who have to pay for checked luggage on airlines.

According to company officials and experts, passengers are increasingly irate with the fees, choosing to ship their luggage to their destinations to save money.

UPS confirms this trend occurring, but did not give firm figures. FedEx says it does not gather information on shipping volume.

Atlanta-based UPS believes more customers are shipping their personal effects through its UPS stores, because it leaves them one less thing to worry about.

"You don't have the schlep factor," says Susan Rosenberg, a company spokeswoman, in an interview according to DailyFinance. Schlep is Yiddish word meaning "to proceed or move especially slowly, tediously, awkwardly, or carelessly".

According to The Wall Street Journal, North American airlines like Delta and Continental raising checked luggage fees to US$25 and US$35 for the first and subsequent bag, one of the highest in the industry.

Checked luggage fees are big money. Airlines in the country took in US$700 million during the third quarter of 2009, up 111% from last year, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

But it seems the airlines have little choice as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects airlines to lose US$5.6 billion globally, making fees collected for services such as checked luggage very important.

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