By charging a charger price for carry-on luggage, more passengers are inclined to check their luggag

Recently, I had the opportunity to fly Spirit Airlines, a discount airline that primarily services North America, the Caribbean, Latin and South America. What was most interesting was how the airline used financial incentives to change passenger behavior benefiting both the airline s bottom line and also the passengers experiences.
In what could be called paternalistic libertarianism (borrowing the phrase used by Sunstein and Thaler in the bestseller Nudge), the airline has created rental cars one way a ticketing and baggage check system that pushes (or nudges) consumers to check their luggage before arriving at the airport and instead of carrying on. What surprised me most was that the cost to carry on luggage was greater than the cost of checking your luggage. But, as I explain below, rental cars one way this is based on sound economic theory and has the benefit of speeding up the time it takes to load the aircraft.
rental cars one way Of course, Spirit s luggage policy has the positive effect of lowering the airline s costs. By encouraging consumers to check their luggage online before arriving at the airport, it can cut the number of service representatives and is able to more accurately predict rental cars one way total luggage weight. But what we found much more interesting is the affect on the passengers experience.
As I would expect for most people, I was initially turned off by the apparently blatant attempt to boost profits by charging for every little thing. However, after further rental cars one way reflection, I saw unintended consequences including shorter lines at check, lower wait times at the counter, and (perhaps most importantly) quicker onboarding at the gate. When viewed through the lens of paternalistic libertarianism, the luggage policy offers a glimpse into (perhaps) a better way to benefit both flyers and the airline.
By charging a charger price for carry-on luggage, more passengers are inclined to check their luggage. When more people rental cars one way check their luggage, they don t need to put their luggage in the overhead compartment. Waiting for people to put their luggage in the overhead compartment is one of the primary reasons it takes so long to board the plane. An additional benefit is that there is more overhead room for those that wish to pay for the convenience! Notice that the airline isn t taking away the ability for travelers who wish to keep their carry-on. In fact, for those that want to carry-on, the whole process is less stressful because there is more overhead compartment space.
Some may take issue with charging anything for luggage (and some airlines rental cars one way compete directly on this issue); however, the premise of the airline is that you can pay a lower ticket price and then build-up the package that you want. In our view, this is a more consumer friendly approach. Otherwise, travellers with no luggage are in effect subsidizing the travellers who do. An analogy could be made to the cable industry and the Economist at Large is in favor of more consumer choice and less hidden subsidies.
In the end, we found the flight on par with the other major airlines (although the aisles were cramped due to configuring the plane with a goal of maximizing capacity rather than passenger comfort) and the innovative luggage policy a step in the right direction, creating a clear link between consumption and cost while making the whole process more efficient and quick for all passengers.