NWA To Charge $80 Fuel Surcharge

On July 31, Northwest Airlines confirmed that they would be charging passengers an $80 fuel surcharge. This new surcharge will apply on travel to and from roughly 7,000 routes beginning on January 10, 2009.  Northwest claims that they are just matching surcharges that have been added by their competitors. 

Recently the number of airlines that are adding fees and surcharges has subsided. This could be because the price of oil has dropped; meaning that the surcharges that were instilled earlier this year are helping the airlines' bottom line. Whatever the case may be, lets hope that airlines have stopped adding on fees and surcharges. 

Luggage Scale to the Rescue!

Since airlines have started to charge a fee to check a second bag- some even charge for checking one bag- passengers have been trying to find ways to keep the number of bags they bring on a trip to a minimum. Some travelers are accomplishing this by trying to turn two suitcases into one; by either packing less or by overpacking their one suitcase. The problem with over packing one's suitcase is that it might result in the suitcase being too heavy. Airlines charge extra money for suitcases that exceed a certain amount of weight; the best way to combat this is to weigh your luggage before heading to the airport. This way, you can be sure that you will not have to pay a fee for your luggage being over the limit. 

The best device to weigh ones luggage, is to use a luggage scale. A luggage scale is a simple gadget that can be used at home, at a hotel, or anywhere one needs to weigh their luggage. The luggage scale pictured above works by hooking the luggage handle to the device and then hold the device up to read how much your luggage weighs. This little device could save you money; it will tell you if your luggage is too heavy or not and because of it's size, it can easily be taken with you. 

Following are how much airlines charge if your luggage is over the weight limit:

• American Airlines~  50-70 lbs: $50 per bag; 71-100 lbs: $100 per bag; 101+; not accepted

• Continental Airlines~ 50-70 lbs: $50 per bag; 71+ lbs: not accepted

• Delta~ 51-70 lbs: $80 per bag; 71-100 lbs: $150 per bag; 101+; not accepted

• Jet Blue~ 51-70 lbs: $50 per bag; 71-99 lbs: $100 per bag; 99+: not accepted

• NWA~ 51-70 lbs: $50 per bag; 71+: not accepted

• Southwest~ 51-70 lbs: $25 per bag; 71-100 lbs: $50 per bag; 101+: shipped as Air Cargo (if classified as a Known Shipper as defined by the TSA)

• US Airways~ 50lbs or less: $15 for first bag, $25 for second bag, $100 for three-nine bags; 51-70lbs: $65, $75, or $150; 71-100 lbs: $115, $125, $200; 101+: not accepted

NWA Lets You Pre-Pay Luggage Fees

Northwest Airlines has currently announced that passengers will be able to pre-pay for their luggage when they check in for their U.S. domestic flights online. Passengers can choose how many bags they want to check in, and pre-pay for them, using their credit card, which will not be charged until their tickets are printed out at at the airport's self-service kiosks; at this point the passengers can make changes to the amount of luggage that they will be checking. NWA is hoping that this will speed up the check-in process and make traveling easier for their passengers. 

Starting this past May NWA started charging passengers $25 for checking in a second bag. Next month NWA will start to charge a $15 fee for checking in one piece of luggage; both of these fees will be able to be paid online twenty four hours prior to departure.