Airlines now want to charge you for bringing a carry-on bag

Once upon a time, flying with a full-service carrier was simple. Yes, it was costlier than going low-cost, but you could be certain of a few things. Checked luggage would be included. So too would a carry-on case. You’d be able to choose your seat for no extra charge. And assuming the flight lasted longer than a couple of hours, you could expect a complimentary hot meal and a G&T.

Airlines around the world are increasingly adding charges to take a standard carry-on bag on board.Credit: iStock

These days, when you hand over your hard-earned cash to a legacy airline, not one of these things is guaranteed. The difference between no-frills and full-service is becoming impossible to distinguish.

Air Canada is about to join the pace-setters in this race to the bottom. For several years, passengers who booked its cheapest fares haven’t been entitled to checked luggage. Such a policy has become commonplace. The emergence of the “basic economy” fare, featuring no checked bag, has subsumed every North American airline, and most of those in Europe.

From January 3, however, to “stay competitive with changing market forces in the country”, those flying on Air Canada’s North American and Caribbean routes will no longer get a normal-sized carry-on case either. Instead, they may only travel with a “personal article” measuring no more than 33cm in height, 16cm in depth, and 43cm in width (unless, of course, they cough up extra – about $40 per person, per flight). Beefed-up charges for seat selection are also on the cards.

Those “changing market forces” refer to the fact that WestJet – a low-cost carrier considered Air Canada’s main domestic rival – already offers an “ultra-basic” fare with no carry-on bag, as does Porter Airlines, based in Toronto. And beyond Canada’s borders, other legacy carriers have taken the same step, aping their no-frills adversaries.

United Airlines, for example, has a basic economy fare that only includes a small carry-on bag (such as a “shoulder bag, backpack or laptop bag that fits under the seat in front of you”), mimicking the policy of low-cost US carriers Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant (United’s legacy rivals American Airlines and Delta have – so far – declined to follow suit).

WestJet has taken no-frills tickets to a new level.Credit: iStock

In Europe, the full-service carriers appear to be falling like dominoes. Finnair’s lowest ”superlight” fares, launched in 2023, include only a small under-seat bag – emulating the likes of Ryanair and Wizz. Sas’s “go light” fares are identical. KM Malta Airlines, the successor to Air Malta, relaunched in 2024 with an equally stingy “economy basic” offering. Further afield, Avianca and Latam offer equally few frills if you choose the cheapest fare type.

Clearly the idea is catching on, which makes one wonder how long it will be before the likes of Qantas and Virgin Australia start charging extra for carry-on bags (though Virgin and Jetstar’s strict 7kg limit is already stricter than what you’ll find in many other parts of the world).

Gilbert Ott, the creator of the aviation blog God Save the Points, believes airlines have now gone “a step too far”. He says: “By removing full-sized carry-on as a full-service airline, you’re pitching yourself squarely against the very bottom of the market, which forces you to compete squarely on price and almost price alone. Full-service airlines may not make as much margin from serving the lowest-paying passengers as a true low-cost carrier which has honed this craft over time.”

Back to basics

A look at the policies of 90 major airlines around the world found the majority of so-called “full-service” airlines have now introduced “basic” fares that don’t include checked luggage or seat selection. This includes British Airways, Etihad, Fiji Airwys, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Lufthansa, KLM, Swiss, Aer Lingus and many more.

As noted previously, at least seven legacy airlines have scrapped both checked luggage and larger carry-on bags from their cheapest fares: United, Air Canada, Finnair, Sas, KM Malta Airlines, LATAM and Avianca.

These dwindling luggage allowances come as legacy airlines also diminish their food and beverage offerings. In 2024, many supposedly full-service airlines no longer serve complimentary food, particularly on short-haul services. Virgin Australia started charging economy passengers for food in 2021 and it’s a similar story in Europe with Air France, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss, Finnair and many others for short-haul flights.

Why does it matter?

Airlines justify their increasingly bewildering range of fare types (three versions of economy class is now the norm) by claiming it increases choice, thus benefiting the consumer. They call it “unbundling” and say it makes the lowest fare lower. Even if that were the case, it is only passengers who can travel light, such as those on business or weekending couples, who will make any savings. For those who need to travel with bags – that is, most holidaymakers and especially families – unbundling adds up to higher fares for the same service they previously enjoyed.

Older aircraft in particular struggle to hold enough space for bulky hand luggage for every passenger.Credit: iStock

The other big problem is that it makes accurate fare comparisons extremely difficult. You cannot simply use a flight search tool to see which airline offers the lowest tickets on a given route – you must dig into each airline’s rules, or even begin a booking journey on its website, to reveal the vast difference between lead-in fare and final bill.

Ott says: “Lead-in pricing is an effective tool in getting people into an airline retailing environment, like the airline’s website, but people certainly don’t like clicking nine times to find out the actual price is nowhere near the original price and that they should’ve clicked the option just below that seemed more expensive but isn’t by the time you add the extras. Fortunately, display capabilities and filters on websites are getting better.”

Jo Rhodes, a consumer travel expert, added: “Drip fees can hugely change the final price people pay for goods and services, and this is particularly true with flights, where the difference between the advertised price and the final fare can easily reach hundreds for a family.

“In recent years it has become increasingly common to see carriers charging passengers not just for checked luggage but even for a decent-sized carry-on – and it’s hard to see this as little more than a cynical attempt to wring ever more money from passengers’ pockets.”

The full-service hold-outs

Which airlines still offer something approaching “full service” when it comes to their cheapest fares? The top dogs in Asia and the Gulf – think Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qatar Airways – lead the way, though it’s interesting to note that Etihad now offers a basic economy fare, so perhaps even these upper-tier carriers are not immune.

Closer to home, Qantas still includes checked luggage in all of its fares. It also provides passengers with complimentary food (calling it a “meal” on short domestic flights would be too generous).

A problem of airlines’ own making

Airlines have gone to war with carry-on luggage in recent years, cutting allowances and incentivising passengers to check their bags instead. It isn’t hard to see why. They slow down the boarding process, take up far too much space in the overhead bins, particularly on older aircraft, and often require extra staff to help stow excess bags in the hold.

But whose fault is it that we are all bringing carry-on luggage? Airlines, thanks to their hefty charges for checked baggage.

“After airlines changed the game and started charging for checked bags, the carry-on became the savvy travel move and is now essential,” Ott says.

“Airlines effectively created the entire market for carry-on bags. Taking this away as an inclusion would mean that hardly anyone can actually buy the ticket they really want without adding an extra ancillary charge. For some carriers, they really never wanted you to buy a basic ticket anyway, and it’s a way to get customers to pony up more. Now they won’t do so without a grumble, since it was recently included.”

The Telegraph, London