checked-in luggage swap

Written by: Incubaker on September 8th, 2008

Ever since airlines started charging extra for the second checked in bag, customers have been doing everything they can to pack in all their goods into their carry-on. i have noticed that many customers are also using duffel bags and large hand bags to bring on

Extra items to avoid this new costs. on the last three flights i have been on, i have either had a tough time finding a space for my carry-on or the stewardess has had to check in the bag before lift off. to make matters even worse, airlines like united and american have started charging a fee for the first bag as well.

So whats a customer to do? well here’s a thought. how bout starting a secondary marketplace for luggage. lets say you fly an airline like jetblue, delta, airtran, etc which still allow for one free checked-in bag. suppose you don’t have anything to check-in or you prefer to carry on, why not let customers sell that space to another customer for a small fee (like 5 dollars). customers could post their extra space on a web site that matches sellers with buyers!

Airlines could also win back some trust from customers by rewarding customers who pack light (carry-on) by giving them a free meal, upgrade their seat or give them a luggage credit for another trip.

Categories: Fresh Ideas, blog

Tags: airline, luggage, travel, web service

eq2 plat

I appreciate your enthusiasm
I look forward to your response
I want to be part of this I also do hand made product i.e luggage with clay

Gerry A

This almost sounds like a time-share type of deal, but for luggage space. When i first read your post, i thought you meant selling carry-on luggage space, i.e. space in the overhead compartments, which would be pretty difficult to implement. But I like the idea of selling checked-in luggage space a lot. I don't know how often people don't check any baggage, but i figured it's worth a try. This could be a really interesting feature to implement into a site like Priceline or Orbitz. It'll give people more options for things to look for when buying airline tickets. The part i really like about it is that it allows for any additional money exchanges or fees to go between the individual customers, rather than all of the business going to the airlines. The one problem i do see is that i don't think airlines would be too happy about incorporating something like this. they're obviously hurting for money already, which is why they are starting to charge people so much to bring luggage. But who knows, maybe some of the stronger airlines would be happy doing it to bring in more customers.