American Airlines waives fee on 3rd bag
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Aug 13, 2008 19:44:43 EDT
American Airlines has agreed to waive its fees for a third checked bag for service members - whether they are on official travel or off duty.
Service members who travel on official orders can be reimbursed by the Defense Department for baggage fees, including excess fees.
Like most other airlines, American Airlines has waived the fees for the first and second bag for troops traveling on orders since these baggage fees went into effect for passengers earlier this year.
American had taken it a step further, also waiving fees on the first and second bags for service members traveling while off duty.
Under the new policy announced Aug. 13, service members traveling on or off duty will not have to pay fees for their third checked bag.
The announcement came five days after the Veterans of Foreign Wars called for the Air Transport Association to negotiate an agreement with its member airlines to waive fees for the third checked bag for service members traveling on official orders.
VFW was responding to a July 31 article in the El Paso Times that detailed the complaints of an Army staff sergeant who had to pay $100 for his third checked bag on American Airlines while en route to training before deploying to Iraq.
Service members on official travel get reimbursed for fees for excess baggage if their travel orders authorize excess baggage, said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Les Melnyk.
They can use their government travel credit card for these fees, and submit a claim for reimbursement on their travel voucher, he said.
If service members do not ask for advance authorization for excess baggage, they still can get reimbursed; after returning, they must submit a request for an amendment to their orders, and officials are available to help service members create their orders and complete their travel vouchers.
"Not every service member gets a government travel card," said Joe Davis, spokesman for the VFW. "We're concerned about the private first class standing there in line who has to come up with $100. That $100 hits you immediately. [The Defense Department] won't give you $100 ahead of time to pay for that.
"We're thinking of the young troops," he said. "That $100 can buy gas and groceries. Knowing you'll be reimbursed is not the same as pulling it out of your wallet."
Defense regulations mandate that service members who travel three or more times a year on official travel must have a government travel card, regardless of rank, Melnyk said. At the unit level, officials can determine whether those who travel less than three times a year should have a card, he said.
"We've always understood that soldiers traveling on duty were reimbursed by the military for the fees on required excess baggage," said Tom Del Valle, American Airlines' senior vice president for airport services, in announcing the policy change.
"However, after recently hearing of the burden the military reimbursement process put on soldiers traveling to war zones, the choice for us to forego payment for a third checked bag … was clear," Del Valle said.
