Passenger Skips $1,400 Fees, Leaves Baggage at Airport Instead
A man, flying Delta from Seattle to New York, abandoned his bags at the airport after discovering that he would be charged $1,400 in luggage fees.
The man deserted four of his seven bags after he was told that he would be charged $1,400 in fees, according to reports. Airport officials in Seattle investigated the man's bags after he left. A bomb squad was summoned over what appeared to be metal wires sticking out of the bag. The investigation unveiled that the man's bags contained only personal items, according to NBC.
The plane the man boarded after abandoning his luggage landed at Kennedy Airport on Tuesday. Police questioned the man as he exited the flight.
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Large airline fees have become a growing problem around the world as customers complain about outrageous prices. Experts have suggested that the fees are so large at times that low ticket prices could be misleading.
"The fees are so high these days that the actual price of the ticket loses its meaning," Max Levitte, co-founder of Cheapism.com, which recently charted airline fees among a dozen carriers, told The Times Dispatch. "You feel like you're being nickel-and-dimed all the time. … Consumers don't know what to expect unless they read all the fine print, which is a lot nowadays."
Airline officials have defended the fees by suggesting that itemizing certain services has helped to keep airline tickets more affordable.
"The model of charging customers for services they value and are willing to pay for has enabled airlines to keep airfare affordable," Jean Medina, spokeswoman for the industry group Airlines for America, explained.
Fees include charging customers for checking bags, carrying bags on the plane, in flight snacks and drinks, and even blankets- most items which were originally included in the price of a ticket. In 2012 the totals fees collected from a number of airlines amassed to more than $36 billion in 2012, according to the Dispatch. That number is up 60 percent from 2010.
