Carry-Ons in the Overhead? Spirit Charges $45

Nudist resorts jump on this lousy new policy to promote the "Nakation" concept

Spirit Airlines has positioned itself as a low-fare airline, further dangling the carrot of attractive MasterCard benefits in front of passengers. But now they've added a cruel new stick, if you'll excuse the scrambled metaphor, by charging $45 (yes, forty-five dollars) for each carry-on that goes into the overhead bin, beginning August 1. What a wretched idea, paying $90 roundtrip for luggage that passengers themselves handle  -- one that I hope doesn't catch on.

Miami is their hub, and they fly to/from several other South Florida airports too. From/to points north, flights serve Atlanta, Atlantic City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angles, Myrtle Beach New York (LGA), To the south, they fly to/from a bunch of Caribbean islands, Cancun in Mexico, several Central American cities, Columbia and even Lima, Peru.

Arthur Frommer, who has been helping travelers save money since he wrote "Europe on $5 A Day" decades ago, too Spirit to task for this terrible policy. In a blog post, he noted, "According to USA Today, Spirit receives three times the number of complaints made each year about the much larger Southwest Airlines. Its policies of customer service (or lack of it) have been widely discussed and condemned.[Then he wrote about the $45 bag fee]...Since Spirit also charges for suitcases checked aboard such a flight (it was the first airline to do so), a passenger can avoid such expense only by traveling without any luggage at all. It's hard to imagine a more inflammatory action."

"Nakationers" Save Luggage Fees

I have to hand it to the American Association of Nude Recreation for responding quickly to Spirit's new baggage-on fees by pointing out that, "Traveling with luggage is an ever-increasing inconvenience and expense - even if you don’t check your bag." The association points out that for a "Nakation" – a vacation in one of its 250 members -- the all of the necessities for a week (sunscreen, cap, sunglasses, shoes and toiletries) can go in a small carry-on that will fit under the seat, avoiding even Spirit's crappy carry-on bag fees. To avoid one last hassles involving security screening, don't bring one large sunscreen but rather two or three that are 3 ounces or less, Put them in a one-quart, clear plastic zip bag along with such optional toiletries as deodorant (well, maybe that should be optional), lip balm, contact lens solution, etc.

I've often joked (not within any official's earshot) that if the Transporation Security Agency screening becomes any more intrusive, we'll all have to go through the checkpoints butt-nekkid. Call it a pre-Nakation.