Hawaii Airlines Add Baggage Fees

Contributing Editor Carl Unger believes that every trip is worth taking. He loves an extended trip to Europe as much as he enjoys exploring the towns and landscape near home. Basically, you'll find him wherever there is good food, fresh air, and plenty of stories to bring home.

Carl has been writing for SmarterTravel since 2005. His travel writing has also appeared on USA Today and the About.com Boston travel guide.

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Hawaii carrier Go! announced it will add a $10 first-checked-bag fee, effective for tickets purchased on or after July 10 for travel on or after August 10. The fee was announced July 15, so passengers who booked between July 10 and 15 may be feeling a bit hoodwinked. A similar situation arose with Delta’s second-checked-bag fee, and customers in that case were given a refund.

Hawaiian Airlines, which unlike Go! operates routes between Hawaii and the mainland, has not matched the fee, but according to the Honolulu Advertiser, the carrier is considering it. Last month, Hawaiian did match Go!’s $17 second-checked-bag fee on interisland routes (the carrier charges a $25 second-checked-bag fee on flights to the mainland).

Flying to Hawaii has been getting pricier and pricier since Aloha ceased operations back in April, a bankruptcy many people (including Aloha CEO David Banmiller) blamed on Go!’s aggressive pricing. Aloha’s demise left Hawaiian and Go! as the two major interisland carriers, meaning both airlines have been able to raise fares practically at will. And now adding these new fees on top of those increased prices … well, you get the idea.

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