New fees for flying: Sky’s the limit?

ThANKS to Jane Engle for alerting us to another airline problem [“With New Rules, It Pays to Travel Light,” Travel Insider, April 17]. The new luggage fees are a poorly disguised increase in airline ticket fees.

It is insulting to airline passengers to cite injuries to baggage handlers and flight attendants as a reason for the new weight limits. It’s clear that the airlines are desperate to generate new revenue sources.

The big question: What will they go for next? Fees for using the lavatories?

Ira M. Landis

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The timing of this article was too late for me, as I had just returned from a tour of Britain and Ireland, vowing to travel light with a 21-inch rolling bag. Delta Airlines allowed me to carry my small bag on board. On my return home from Heathrow Airport, Virgin Atlantic had a 7-kilogram [about 15 1/2 pounds] limit on all [carry-on] bags. My carry-on weighed slightly more, so I watched my cute red bag go on the baggage conveyer.

From now on, I will implement a Plan B, as recommended by Engle, by removing some of the contents and stuffing them into my large shoulder bag to qualify for the allowable weight.

Edna M. Tobias