Earlier this week, JetBlue became the first airline in the United States to increase checked bag fees in recent times. This is an area where JetBlue tends to “lead,” and there’s now an update, as one of the “big three” carriers has followed JetBlue’s lead.
United tries to boost revenue with higher checked bag fees
Airlines are obviously in an incredibly tough spot at the moment. We’ve seen a massive increase in fuel costs, which is one of the biggest variable expenses that airlines have. If oil prices don’t decrease from these levels, even the world’s most profitable airlines will be losing money, while those airlines that were previously struggling may be in bankruptcy.
For tickets purchased as of today (Friday, April 3, 2026), United has increased checked bag fees by $10 for the first and second bag, and by $50 for the third bag and beyond. United’s checked bag fees vary based on whether you pre-pay for them 24 hours or more before departure, or whether you pay within 24 hours.
With this change, if you pay within 24 hours of departure, you’ll pay $50 for your first checked bag ($40 before), $60 for your second checked bag ($50 before), and $200 for your third checked bag ($150 before). Meanwhile if you pre-pay, you’ll get $5 off those amounts.
In a statement, United emphasizes that this is the first time in two years that the airline has raised checked bag fees.
Why United is raising checked bag fees instead of fares
In recent weeks, we’ve heard a lot of airline executives warn that airfare could go up due to higher oil prices. The issue is that demand for airfare is pretty elastic — when airfare goes up, demand goes down.
Even beyond that, Americans are feeling the impacts of higher oil prices, so many people also have less disposable income (though the “premium” airlines love to boast about the wonders of the K-shaped economy). If airlines could just easily raise prices, we wouldn’t be in a situation where most US carriers are turning operating losses.
From the perspective of airlines, if they desperately need to extract more revenue from passengers, increasing checked bag fees is a logical place to start, since it’s not a detail that passengers compare quite as closely as just direct ticket costs.
So yeah, the price of oil is impacting checked bag fees, but that’s simply because it’s a more practical way to try to increase revenue, compared to outright raising fares.
Bottom line
United has just increased checked bag fees by $10-50 per flight. The increase is $10 for the first and second checked bag, and $50 for the third bag and beyond, and there’s still a $5 discount for paying more than 24 hours in advance.
Airlines see raising checked bag fees as the easiest way to boost revenue without having to increase fares. JetBlue started this round of bag fee increases, United quickly followed, and I’m sure other airlines won’t be too far behind. And remember, once costs go up, they rarely come down.
What do you make of United increasing checked bag fees?
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