![](\"http:\/\/consumerist.com\/assets_c\/2010\/04\/041310-002-spirit-check-in-thumb-280x213-39223.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Executives love to justify price increases or staff reductions by hauling out the customer service argument, because then any complaint you make can be framed as self-defeating. (“Don’t you want<\/em> better service?”) On that note, Spirit’s CEO Ben Baldanza told travel blogger Christopher Elliott<\/a> last week that the new carry-on bag fee is really intended to reduce gate delays. Remember to send a thank-you card to Baldanza.<\/p>\n Baldanza told Elliott, “Last fall, we identified excessive carry-on baggage as the number-one controllable reason that our planes were being delayed at the gate.” Spirit’s solution is to change the pricing structure so that nobody can avoid a checked baggage fee, thereby reducing the incentive to bring your bag onto the plane yourself. <\/p>\n The baggage fees disclosed on the Spirit website<\/a> support his claim. In fact, starting August 1st it will be $5 cheaper to check your bag than to carry it with you (online only; all bag fees jump to $45 at the gate). Or to look at it another way, starting August 1st you’ll have to pay $5 extra to keep your baggage with you on a Spirit flight. If you don’t like this, then you hate customer service.<\/p>\n When Elliott asks if Baldanza thinks $45 is a little high, he responds, “It sure is!” Then he tries to upsell Elliott’s readers on a $40 annual “Fare Club” membership (with auto-renewal) that drops the online baggage fees by $10. <\/p>\n Baldanza also adds that “while the basis for this new fee was founded in improved customer service, it has not been communicated this way through the media.” Well, I did my part, Baldanza! <\/p>\n