Media-Types Will Want To Avoid The Widget

This one hits the ANN staff where we live... onboard commercial airliners, traipsing from one corner of the country to another, often with heavy camera equipment stowed in the cargo hold safely below (or, alas, misrouted onto a different flight entirely.) Delta Air Lines announced this week it will double its charge for a second checked bag to $50 on domestic flights.

The Associated Press reports the nation's third-largest airline will levy the new fines -- er, fees -- for anyone who purchases a ticket on or after August 5, as yet another measure intended to offset the cost of rising fuel prices (which, one should note, have actually been coming down lately -- Ed.) As before, first class and business fliers are exempt from the new charge.

Delta has so far resisted the industry's latest siren-song, charging for ALL checked luggage; you may still check one bag onboard Delta for "just" the cost of your ticket, so long as it isn't overly bulky and weighs less than 50 pounds.

If that sounds fairly reasonable, well... just wait. It gets worse... a LOT worse.

Fees for checking a third bag will rise sharply, from $80 to $125. If your bag is between 51 and 70 pounds, expect to pay $90... on top of other fees. On any flight, checking a bag that is 62 inches to 80 inches of the total of its length plus its width plus its height, the fee will rise from $150 to $175.

And, worst of all, if your bag is over both the weight limit, and the size limit, you will be charged three times: once for the extra bag, once for exceeding the size limit, and a third hit for weight.

Do the math. Checking an extra bag could add up to significantly more than the one-way ticket price you thought you got such a deal on from Orbitz and the like. Extra fees also apply to items that require special handling, including skis and surfboards.

And, as they say in the broadcasting biz, here's the kicker: Delta will also charge $175 per item for equipment such as cameras, film, lighting and sound gear... a charge Delta admits is aimed squarely at media representatives who often travel with such items.

Oh, and one last thing: remember how we said before that, so far, Delta has resisted charging for the first bag? Well, as it turns out, the airline is now "considering" whether to start charging for the first checked bag, too.

FMI: www.delta.com