Last year, my husband and I splurged on round-trip first-class tickets on Japan Airlines from San Francisco to Tokyo for $13,474 each. We reserved them in February for an October flight through American Express Travel. On the same day, I also bought business class tickets for a couple who was traveling with us at $8,429 apiece. In September, Amex notified me that we had been downgraded to business class for the return flight. JAL’s conditions state that we would receive “the difference between the normal fare amount of original class of service and for the normal fare of lower class of service.” To me that means that since the difference between our first class seats and our friends’ business seats was $5,045 each, we should be refunded about half of that — around $2,522 per person — for the second leg. But we got only $941 each. I contested this with Amex Travel, but they rejected our claim. Can you help?
Those viral TikTok travel hacks may soon be obsolete as airlines clamp down on excess baggage
17.03.2024 - 14:19 / insider.com / Airlines
Southwest is among the major airlines that have started to clamp down on passengers with excess baggage, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Now that the changes are taking force, perhaps the time is up for the many TikTokkers and frequent fliers who have played fast and loose with the rules.
Most airlines allow passengers to bring one carry-on bag and one personal item on board, in addition to a checked bag.
On its website, Southwest says cross-body bags, pillows, blankets, and laptop cases are included in the personal item allowance. But people on TikTok have gone viral for sharing the creative ways they'd brought along more baggage without paying extra.
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Former flight attendant Kat Kamalani racked up more than 500,000 views for a TikTok video that suggested passengers fill an empty pillowcase with excess clothing items to sneak more on board.
Others have suggested stuffing clothes into a large coat to carry them past gate agents or tying clothes around your neck as a neck pillow.
However, airlines are becoming more strict on the requirements before the spring and summer travel season, the Journal reported. Passengers told the outlet that they experienced gate agents listing off more items that are counted as a second bag.
So, if you bring an item like a pillow on board, you may have to stuff that cross-body bag or laptop case inside your carry-on or risk paying for a checked bag.
Some TikTok users said they opted to wear their excess items by using the large pockets of a fishing vest. One user posted a video that appeared to show her boarding a plane wearing a fishing vest packed with a bikini, speaker, power bank, deodorant, and even a laptop.
Travel experts have previously told Business Insider that these hacks aren't a guaranteed way to avoid charges, as it's at the discretion of the gate agent to decide which items meet the requirements.
As airlines clamp down on carry-ons, checked baggage fees have also increased.
Major airlines like Delta, American, and United, all raised their checked-bag fees by $5 since the start of the year. And those fees are a big money-maker, earning the airlines around $33 billion last year.
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