Skift Business Traveler: An End to Egregious Baggage Fees?

What to Know Now

New legislation proposed last week could put an end to egregious bag fees as we know it. The bill, proposed by one Rep. John Mica is more complicated than it sounds—mixed within the proposal is a dialogue on airport taxes that congress has been raging over, and many believe that the bill is just for show.

Still, it’s nice to shed some light onto the (tax-free) fees that the airline industry has been gouging us with — even in light of record profits. As for me, I’ll stick with my backpack.

Social Quote of the Day

‏So they’ll be hitting you with a different charge for even more.

– jimflaigle, Reddit

Airlines

The Political Move to Reduce U.S. Bag Fees to Only $4.50: Airlines would be allowed to charge you no more than $4.50 to check a bag under a House bill introduced this week, slashing a fee that averages about $25 at most U.S. carriers. Read more at Skift

Airline Upgrades Are Reaching Economy Passengers: Passengers at the rear of airplanes have had little to cheer for a long time, and the Justice Department’s recent inquiry into allegations of collusion between carriers to control capacity, and in that way fares, has done little to improve relations. Still, several carriers have quietly restored or added a few creature comforts in economy class. Read more at The New York Times

The World’s 6 Best Airline Suites and Where to Fly Them: Airlines want you to escape the crunch at the back by buying up in the front of the plane. But where are those higher fares best spent? Read more at Skift

American Airlines Reports Its Largest Quarterly Profit in History: American Airlines said Friday that its second-quarter profit nearly doubled to $1.7 billion on sharply cheaper jet fuel. Read more at Skift

Airports

The Story Behind Berlin’s $6 Billion Airport Embarrassment: The inspectors could hardly believe what they were seeing. Read more at Skift

U.S. Airport Wi-Fi Upgrades Offer Hope Connection Speeds Won’t Always Be Miserable: Web browsing became a little more pleasant at the seven busiest U.S. airports during the past year as their average Wi-Fi speeds got faster and terminals from coast to coast invested in updates to their Wi-Fi technology. Read more at Skift

Miami Airport Is on Track to Set a New Passenger Traffic Record: Miami International Airport is on pace to set a new record for number of travelers. Read more at Skift

The UK Airport Company That’s Building Better Lounges in the U.S.: Manchester Airports Group said its newly created U.S. unit is making major strides after winning a contract in Minnesota and submitting bids in two other states as it seeks to tap into public spending on terminal facilities. Read more at Skift

Tech

Skift Global Forum 2015: Gogo’s CEO on the Future of In-Flight Connectivity: Gogo has become a household name when it comes to providers of in-flight wireless connectivity. As the industry’s first-mover, it’s become synonymous with onboard Internet— both the good and the bad. Read more at Skift

Kayak’s Radical New Experiments as Booking.com Clone: On a day that finds TripAdvisor transformed into a booking site, with a little metasearch on the side, a Kayak experiment I uncovered almost made my heart stop. Read more at Skift

This New App Could Revolutionize Airport Eating: AirGrub is an app that lets you order food before you’ve even landed at the airport. Read more at Conde Nast Traveler

Atlanta Public Transit to Offer Free Wi-Fi and Launch Uber Partnership: Leaders of Atlanta’s public transit authority say they’re launching a partnership with Uber and offering free Wi-Fi to improve service. Read more at Skift

Hotels

Airbnb’s Next CFO Is From Blackstone, Says Report: Airbnb Inc. is close to hiring Blackstone Group LP’s Laurence Tosi as chief financial officer of the home- sharing startup, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Read more at Skift

Strategic Hotels Looking for a Buyer for Its Luxury Hotel Portfolio: Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., the owner of luxury resorts across the U.S., is exploring a sale and hired a bank to help it find a buyer, according to people familiar with the matter. Read more at Skift

Your Turn

Jaunted, HotelChatter and VegasChatter are shutting down and merging their operation into Conde Nast. All of our best to their editorial staff.

TIPS AND COMMENTS

Can be sent to gm[at]skift[dot]com or to @grantkmartin

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