Alaska Airlines Increases Checked Bag Fees in 2024

Alaska Airlines is increasing the cost of checked bags for all tickets purchased after January 2nd. While Alaska is the first airline to bump up the cost of checked bags, other US carriers will likely take its lead.

Passengers who purchased tickets already and those who do so before January 2nd will pay the current rates shown above.

Those booking after January 2nd will see a $5 increase on their first checked bag and a $5 increase on their second. If checking a third bag or more, the rate still remains at the expensive $150 for each additional piece of baggage. This is the first time Alaska has increased checked bag fees since 2018. The usual exemptions still apply. This includes:

• First Class passengers
• Passengers with MVP Gold 100K or MVP Gold 75K status and those with oneworld Emerald status receive up to three free checked bags
• Alaska Airlines credit card holders
• US military personnel

We’ll see if other carriers follow Alaska’s lead. United Airlines and JetBlue increased checked bag fees last in 2020. It feels like this is a good opportunity for all of them to go for the cash grab.

Anthony’s Take: I don’t check bags. In the past decade and thousands of flights, I have only done so a few times when moving clothes between Chicago and Tampa. Other than that, carry-on all the way. While $5 might not seem like much, it adds up when multiplied by the number of bags annually.

(Featured Image Credit: Alaska Airlines.)