A sign displays checked luggage fees at a Northwest Airlines ticket counter at MBS International Airport in Freeland, Mich. AP PHOTO
When Bill Getty helped organize a ski trip for fellow MBA students at Northwestern University, he told them to leave one thing behind — their skis.
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"We had 25 people,” Getty said of a trip to Argentina in August, when it was winter in the southern hemisphere. "That’s a lot of baggage fees.”
Since last ski season, airlines have imposed new fees on checking luggage that could boost the cost of a family vacation by several hundred dollars.
On American Airlines, for example, a coach customer checking skis, a boot bag and a suitcase for ski clothing would pay $140 each way in luggage fees. Skiers who can cram all their clothes into a boot bag — and keep it under 50 pounds — can avoid the $100 fee for the third bag.
Skiing was already an expensive hobby, and the airline charges are giving skiers even more reason to reconsider their plans.
Some say they are cutting back to fewer trips this winter, while others are scouring the Internet for deals on lodging or lift tickets that might offset the higher cost of travel.
The move by airlines to impose baggage fees may have the unintended consequence of helping another industry — ski resorts, which depend on rental shops to augment the money they make from selling lift tickets.
Traditionally, advanced skiers and even intermediates used their own skis. Rentals were considered cheap, entry-level gear. Wearing a pair meant advertising that you were a novice from the flatlands.
But particularly in the Rockies, rental shops have been adding high-end skis. Winter Park in Colorado spent $250,000 on new rental equipment. Other areas offer concierge-like service, delivering skis and snowboards right to guests’ hotels.
The resorts sell the rental service as an added convenience for vacationers because it isn’t always a cheaper alternative. The cost of renting basic skis ranges from $20 to $30 and up a day, and could quickly eclipse the airline baggage charges. The resorts are touting rentals as a no-fuss alternative to buying a new pair that might be used only one week a year.
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initial worry
Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, admitted that his resort members initially looked at airline baggage fees as a big problem, adding to the burden of selling an expensive sport during a weak economy. For skiers who drive, the price of gasoline has been plunging. With jet fuel prices also falling, airlines have been offering ski deals for those who prefer to fly.
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