Checked baggage fees

Airline checked baggage fees

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End of an era: Southwest Airlines no longer checks bags for free

Passengers checking bags on Southwest Airlines must now do what passengers on other airlines do:

pay for their checked bags.

The carrier’s longstanding and much-loved “two bags fly free” policy ended May 28, 2025.

Now Southwest Airlines passengers who don’t have a Southwest credit card, elite status or a certain class of ticket must pay $35 for the first check bag and $45 for the second.

Checked baggage fees on domestic US airlines

For many travelers, Southwest’s “two bags fly free” policy was the clincher when choosing which airline to fly.

But now those travelers may be looking around for other carriers and trying to figure out the checked bag fees.

So let’s take a look at what current checked bag fees are on most domestic U.S. airlines. Weight and size restrictions apply and are often not the same from airline to airline, so be sure to check.

In many cases, a credit card, cabin class or airline status will allow you to avoid these checked bag fees. And there may be discounts for prepaying your bag fees.

Here are some of the basic baggage fees as of May 28, 2025.

Alaska Airlines: $35 for 1st bag; $45 for the second bag.

American Airlines: $40 for the 1st bag ($35 if you pay online); $45 for the second bag.

Delta Air Lines: $35 for the 1st bag; and $45 for the second bag.

Frontier Airlines: Pricing for carry-on and checked bags varies by where (i.e. online or at the airport) and when you pay for it. And even by route. It can be confusing. And costly. Be sure to measure and weigh your bags and check the site for options.

Hawaiian Airlines: Interisland: 1st bag: $30, 2nd bag: $40. North America: $40 for the 1st bag, $45 for the 2nd.

JetBlue: $35-$50 for the first bag, $50-$70 for the second. Discounts are applied depending on when you pay for your checked bag.

Southwest Airlines: $35 for the 1st bag; and $45 for the second bag.

Spirit Airlines: Prices for carry-on and checked bags vary.

United Airlines: $35-$40 for the first bag, $45-50 for the second. 

 

Spirit Airlines ups the ante: will charge $100 for carry-on bags

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Spirit Airlines is being really mean-spirited now.

On Monday the airline announced that, beginning on November 6, passengers who wait until they get to the boarding gate to pay the airline’s fee for checking a piece of luggage or carrying it onto the airplane will pay $100 per bag.

Passengers can pay lower luggage fees by paying earlier in the process, such as online , on the phone or at an airline kiosk. but there’s no way around paying something to carry-on or check a piece of luggage.

Spirit is the airline that advertises really low fares but often surprises unsuspecting customers with hefty added fees for everything from seat assignments to onb0ard drinks.  Beginning October 31, 2012, the airline will also begin charging a $2 fee for printing a boarding pass at an airline kiosk. (Since January there’s been a $5 fee to have a boarding pass printed by an agent at the airport.)

Spirit claims that separating out these – and a plethora of other fees – “empowers customers to save money on air travel.” You decide.

Here’s the new chart of fees for baggage

For now passengers flying on a Spirit Airlines flight are not charged a fee for taking aboard one personal item that fits under the seat.