Baggage Claims

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These days, it can cost almost as much for your bags to fly as it does for you to fly. That’s because most airlines charge $20 to $35 for you to check a single piece of luggage at the gate and another $100 if that bag happens to be overweight. So, a $170 flight from, say, Chicago to Orlando, Fla., quickly can turn into a $305 expense. And there’s every reason to believe that the fees for checked bags will get higher in the years ahead.

But if you make smart choices when you buy luggage, you might be able to avoid some—and possibly all—of those nasty checked-bag fees. Luggage manufacturers continue to produce lighter carry-on and checked bags. For instance, you can buy hard-sided, or hard-shell, luggage that is made of strong plastic and weighs the same as soft-sided, or soft-shell, bags that are made of nylon. And you can choose from the widest selection ever of wheeled duffel bags, which provide more packing flexibility than a traditional wheeled carry-on does. However, it’s worth noting that the premium that you’ll pay for the lightest new bags can cost you much more than the fees that you’re trying to avoid.

FEE FIGHTERS. In 2009, U.S. airlines collected $740 million in baggage fees, according to Department of Transportation. That’s a 50 percent increase from 2008. These days, you’ll pay as much as $25 for the first bag that you check through on the flight and as much as $35 extra for checking through a second bag. Plus, you’ll pay an additional $100 if your checked bag weighs more than 50 pounds.

But if you believe that using carry-on luggage is the way to go to avoid paying check-through fees, there can be a flaw in that belief. That’s because airlines are more strictly enforcing size limitations for carry-on bags, according to Peter Cobb, who founded online luggage retailer eBags. And if the airline determines that your bag is too big to carry on (most often because it’s overpacked), you’ll have to check it—and pay a fee.

Consequently, the sales of wheeled duffel bags, which are light and have more-flexible packing space than traditional carry-on models, are on the rise, luggage experts say. Cobb says sales of wheeled duffels on his site increased 40 percent in 2009 from 2008. Wheeled duffel bags have been around, but more-traditional luggage manufacturers now make wheeled duffels, too. As a result, there’s a broader array of products and a wider range of prices than ever before. Wheeled duffels range in price from $50 to $600, which is about the same price range as traditional 22-inch upright bags have.

If you pack suits or dresses in a carry-on bag, you should stick with upright luggage because of their more rigid frame. Even casual clothes are more likely to get wrinkled when they are packed in a duffel. Otherwise, we wouldn’t blame anyone for choosing a wheeled duffel. Because wheeled duffels have a smaller frame (or even no frame at all), they can fit into tight spaces—including overhead bins. And wheeled duffels weigh an average of 4 pounds less than comparably sized traditional carry-on bags.

Meanwhile, manufacturers are using lighter materials for some soft-shell bags of all sizes and categories, including duffels, uprights and garment holders. These shell fabrics are made of yarns that have hollow fibers that are as abrasion-resistant as the fibers that were used just 4 years ago on all soft-shell bags but weigh 30 percent less.

But the biggest development for luggage in the past 3 years is the use of polycarbonate plastic to create inner frames for soft-shell luggage and whole shells for hard-shell luggage. (Polycarbonate plastic is the same material that’s used to create CDs and DVDs, but luggage-makers use a thicker layer.)