NEWS
DOT Requires Airlines to Refund Checked Baggage Fees on Late Bags
Source: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
We all know the feeling – you pay to check in a bag, only to arrive at your destination to find your paid for bag has not arrived. It’s aggravating and can be a major inconvenience.
Congress agrees and has determined paying for a service that doesn’t do what it says it should do is cause for a refund. Airlines are now required, by law, to refund baggage fees they collect if the bag is delayed by a certain number of hours.
Source: Shutterstock
“If you’re paying for the service of baggage delivery, you should expect to receive that service and that baggage in a timely manner or receive a refund,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced.
Airlines collected approximately $3.8 billion in bag fees last year.
The details, such as how customers will receive refunds, and how long of a delay in receiving checked bags warrants a refund, are still to be worked out. The DOT is collecting data for thirty days to help accomplish this. Congress has told the department to have rules in place by July 2017.
