On a recent flight to California, I learned a valuable traveling lesson. Upon arrival to the airport I used the self-check in kiosk. A screen popped up alerting me that I was in boarding group 3 and asked if I wanted to pay $5 to be bumped to group 1. Since the airlines seems to nickel and dime us for everything these days, I declined.
That was the wrong answer!
The flight was full and almost everyone had a carry on roller bag. The airline employees had already made an announcement that some people were going to have to check their carry on bags. Of course no one wanted to check their bag since the flight was already delayed and most people had extremely tight connections. So a group formed ready to jump in line as soon as their group was called.
When group 3 was called, everyone made a mad dash to the line. Not one person made eye contact. Heads down, everyone barreled forward. I ended up about tenth in the group 3 line.
When I got to the back of the plane, I was told that there was no room and my bag had to be checked. This was pretty upsetting since I was one of those people that had a tight connection. I came to the conclusion at that point that I would pay for the upgrade going forward.
Thankfully my bag did make the connecting flight! On my return flight, the fee for being bumped to group 1 was $9. I did pay the fee and happily had my bags with me. If the airlines wouldn’t charge for checked bags, they wouldn’t have such a problem with carry on luggage.
Moral of the story, if you want to keep your checked bag with you and you are in group 3 or 4, pay the extra fee to be upgraded!
If you missed my other travel tips, make sure you check them out!
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