August 12, 2008

American Airlines supports the troops by charging them bag fees

Yup. If you are a soldier heading to war via American Airlines, you will get charged for your bags:

American Airlines is charging troops for their extra baggage, a practice that forces soldiers heading for a war zone in Iraq to try to get reimbursement from the military. One of the country's largest veterans groups is asking the aviation industry to drop the practice immediately.

American, which recently charged two soldiers from Texas $100 and $300 for their extra duffel bags, said it gives the military a break on the cost for excess luggage and that the soldiers who incur the fees are reimbursed.

"Because the soldiers don't pay a dime, our waiver of the fees amounts to a discount to the military, not a discount to soldiers," said Tim Wagner, spokesman for American Airlines. "Soldiers should not have to pay a penny of it."

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) spokesman Joseph Davis said service members destined for Iraq should not have to spend the money out of pocket and should not have to worry about filing expense forms in a war zone.

I don't want to hit American Airlines too hard for this as they did at least offer reimbursement. That being said, I wish they'd had the common sense to realize that most soldiers don't have the time to ship back reimbursement forms from the theater.

I'd be interested to hear how often soldiers just decide it isn't worth the bother.

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 10:38 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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