Oh Those Nasty Bags

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Hey, I have a novel idea – let's pick on an industry that doesn't seem to be in the news enough; the airline industry. Before you say, "Come on Rob, are you running out of blogs already!? This is too easy!" I'll make you a deal. We'll just stick to this week's target practice topic – our luggage. So where are we on this policy now? How does the term scitzofrantic sound?

For years we Road Warriors have endured the stares of others. You think we don't notice, but we do! It comes from the Weekend Warriors who stamp their glare with a, "How come you can't just check that bag like everyone else" look. Because we travel a lot, and get low number zone assignments, we get on early, put our laptop bags in front of us, (well most of us do), and don't talk or eat much. What Weekend Warriors don't understand is that we are not visiting Aunt Millie. We are hustling to a meeting, or better yet, hustling home to a family that if we are blessed, never tires of missing us. We are hustling home to try and get through that door before our children close their eyes and another day is lost. Every second counts. We still see that scowl however.

We even try to keep our space down with the bags we buy. We buy new bags that fall into that 21 – 22 inch length. We do that so we don't have to turn our bag sideways and take someone else's space. Of course as soon as we buy those bags, the airlines start putting us in planes with smaller cargo areas that have been reconfigured to make many of those new bags obsolete. More stares.

However, these past couple of weeks have seen a new confusing rule change. USAir has joined United and has decided to charge those Weekend Warriors a fee for checking even their first bag. I can understand checking two or three bags, but a fee for checking a bag? Wouldn't that lead one to believe that now a heck of a lot more people will be carrying bags on board? Ironically Road Warriors, or as the airlines call us, "elite flyers" will not be charged. Of course, "elite flyers" don't typically check their luggage anyway!

Won't this create more havoc in the boarding process? Oh, and while I'm whining about this, who will be left to glare at us when we line up with our 21" suiter and laptop bag?

Business lesson here: One of the best two ways I know of driving business away is to nickel and dime your client, (even the water is no longer free on USAir), and stress out your clients during an already stressful situation.