AIRLINE RFID TAGS. IT'S COMING AND IS GOING TO BE HUGE
Shoemaker: Airline policies make no sense John Shoemaker/Local columnist 05/20/2012 12:27 AM
You had to know it was coming.
A second airline, Alliant Air, announced it is charging up to $35 for storing carry-on baggage in the overhead bin.
Of course, this is in addition to all other baggage fees.
Spirit Airlines went a step further and announced in May they are charging $100 for fliers who pay for a carry-on at the boarding gate. That means $200 for a round trip for a carry-on bag.
A spokesperson said they will monitor customer reaction but that “they do not expect lasting repercussions.”
Will travelers rebel? When is too much enough?
To be sure, the major airlines are following suit. First they start with charges for a “second bag” checked: today Delta is $75+; American is $60+; JetBlue is $40. In each case it can go higher depending on the flight and destination.
Then price creep moved to “first bags” checked…and now carry-on’s.
Baggage fees appear to be accepted by the travelers. But this wasn’t even considered a possibility just a few years ago.
Where is the outcry?
For decades the airlines steadfastly refused to charge an extra 50 cents or a dollar to fund new technology to positively track baggage and avoid the millions of lost or mishandled bags each year.
Executives at every American airline said no — that the traveling public simply would not pay the extra fee. The other argument was that if an airline did charge the extra 50 cents or a dollar fee to upgrade their baggage handling systems with new technology, then they would lose their customers to competition.
Travelers decide airline choice by price alone, said the airline executives.
It was felt that the traveling public would continue to accept lost baggage without real complaint.
The events of 9/11 changed all that. The airlines started to charge for baggage as they were bleeding with mounting losses and desperately looked for extra revenue.
The race continues to turn the industry into a coin-operated revenue generating machine.
In the meantime, lost bags pile up and are sold to a store in Alabama that sells millions of dollars of merchandise from lost bags every year.
It simply doesn’t have to be this way.
Of all the airports in the world, did you know that Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport was the first to deploy radio frequency microchips in baggage labels to track every single bag that leaves the airport?
The technology involves the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) chips embedded in the normal airline bar coded bag tag. McCarran used over 100 million of these tags in the first five years alone. It operates much like EZ Pass does on the Mass Pike and other toll roads.
The cost per RFID chip tag? Less than 25 cents.
They did not wait for the airlines to do it. The business community of Las Vegas wants every traveler to have a positive experience so that what baggage comes to Vegas can also leave Vegas securely.
Of course, the Chinese went on to copy the idea and one of the largest airports in Asia, Hong Kong International, also uses RFID to track millions more bags each year.
It has been a resounding success, done 10 years ago and is expanded today.
Unfortunately, the airlines now believe that air travelers have accepted the idea that bags will get lost from time to time. When possible, they may even avoid checking bags altogether and will carry them on board their flights.
But wait a minute.
Have you seen the turmoil and confusion caused when people are trying to get their bags into the overhead bins? Not enough space, crunch time. The rush is on.
More than one argument has broken out while attendants are exhorting people to take their seats to leave on time.
One airline executive even told me that today there are only two times an airline knows where your bag is: when you check it at the ticket counter and when you pick it up at the carousel.
No matter, travelers have apparently swallowed the idea.
Already, we pay extra fees for aisle seats, seats with extra leg room, exit row seats, economy plus seats, and other services.
No pillows, food, or other amenities are offered on many flights without paying by credit card.
When you arrive at your destination, especially those involving connecting flights, do you feel confident that your bag will be there?
Who will be holding your bag? You paid extra fees for baggage handling, right?
No matter, you may be holding an empty bag, if any bag at all.
And for sure, your wallet will be lighter.
