Discount airlines now offer big bonus if staff spot oversize bags

When you look at airlines with the highest rates of complaints, discount airlines generally top the list.

In fact, when the U.S. PIRG Education Fund analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the research revealed that three budget airlines had the highest number of complaints with the DOT. These included Frontier, Spirit, and JetBlue.

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There are lots of reasons for complaints. Nickel-and-diming customers on fees is one of the reasons why people tend to have issues with these airlines.

Unfortunately, recent news about airline policy changes suggests that the situation may only get worse, as some low-budget airlines are now rewarding staff members who spot oversized bags so the airline can catch more people and charge added fees.

Discount airlines charge for bags

Discount airlines may have cheap prices on seats, but they upcharge for everything – including bags.

For example, for Frontier Airlines:

• A personal item is included if it is 14″H X 18″W X 8″D.
• Carry-ons can be 24″H X 16″W X 10″D, but they cost money, with the price varying by flight.

Spirit Airlines, for its part, includes a personal item that is smaller than 18″x14″x8,” and once the carry-on is larger than that, you’ll have to pay for it.

Related: Southwest Airlines has a new carry-rule that will anger passengers

Even Southwest Airlines is getting in the game. 

While the airline used to allow you to fly bags for free, that policy has changed. Now you have to pay for checked bags, and while the Southwest Airlines’ policy says you can bring one carry-on and one personal item, the airline recently stopped a customer from also bringing on a picture because it counted as a third item.

Airlines have started paying a bounty for oversized bags

Paying for bags is annoying, of course, and some customers may try to sneak in a slightly oversized item as a personal item so they can avoid that.

Unfortunately, discount airlines are wise to that. And, as Simple Flying recently reported, Ryanair is taking an innovative approach to trying to catch customers who aim to avoid baggage fees.

More on travel:

• U.S. government issues serious warning for cruise passengers
• Delta Air Lines makes a baggage change that travelers will like
• United Airlines passenger incident triggers quick response 

Ryanair is the leading discount airline in Europe, and it has long paid a bonus to gate agents if they catch bags that exceed the allowable dimensions. 

However, Simple Flying says the airline is now increasing the payment it provides to gate agents. In other words, it’s going to pay a larger bounty to agents at the gate who happen to spot customers trying to bring a bag that’s a bit above the allowable size.

Ryanair significantly increases reward for gate agents who find oversized bags

While Ryanair previously paid gate gents €1.50 ($1.75) for each oversized bag that they found, the airline is raising that amount to €2.50 ($2.91). And while the airline previously capped the size of the extra payments, that cap is disappearing.

Related: TSA issues stern warning forbidding popular summer item

Now, under the new rules, airline gate agents are no longer limited to just €80 ($93.10) in bonus money. They can earn an unlimited amount if they spot many bags that are too large. Obviously, the hope is that this will encourage enforcement and lead to more flyers getting hit with large baggage fees.

The CEO says the new policy is designed to make passengers play by the rules

Ryanair believes that this move is the right one, and the CEO defended the policy to The Independent, stating:

“99.9% of Ryanair passengers comply with the bag rules, no issues. (…) That 0.1%, we need to get rid of them. We need to get rid of those big bags. Everybody has to play by the rules, and then there’ll be no issues, but we are going to continue to catch more people.”

Do other airlines pay bonuses to employees for catching oversized bags?

Ryanair’s policy of paying a bonus is not limited to that airline; easyJet does the same.

And this trend is not limited to European airlines, either. A Senate report found that Frontier and Spirit also offered bonuses to gate agents and had paid staff $26 million between 2022 and 2023 for catching oversize bags and charging passengers extra fees.

U.S. Senators called out this practice, with Senator Richard  Blumenthal writing a letter to the Department of Transportation stating that: 

“[The] Subcommittee’s findings suggest that Frontier and Spirit’s incentive payments to gate agents may inappropriately encourage abuse of discretion when it comes to deciding whether a passenger has complied with airline bag policies, potentially forcing customers to choose between paying an unjust bag fee or missing their flight.”

Still, there is no rule preventing the bonuses. And as SimpleFlying pointed out, the bonuses paid to gate agents are small compared to the amount that the airlines bring in for the extra baggage fees. 

With more European airlines paying larger bonuses, U.S. carriers may follow suit, leading to more people being stopped at the gate and getting stuck with extra charges. 

(The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a trip.)

Make a free appointment with TheStreet’s Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.

Related: Low-cost airline permanently cancels many US to Europe flights

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