Some travelers will do anything to avoid baggage fees. One passenger decided to completely abandon his luggage at Seattle-Tacoma International airport because he was faced with an overweight baggage fee of $1,400.
According to NBC, the bags caused a disruption at the airport as the Delta check-in lobby at Sea-Tac was closed down for more than two hours, according to airline spokesperson Morgan Durrant. After discovering the left-behind luggage, law enforcement officials had to do a visual inspection, X-ray the bags and call in bomb technicians to determine the contents. "They determined there were no suspicious contents," Sea-Tac spokesperson Christina Faine said.
The Transportation Security Administration was able to identify the owner of the luggage by working with the airline and Seattle police.
"Law enforcement officials with the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey met the flight and interviewed the passenger upon arrival at JFK," TSA spokesperson Ross Feinstein said.
The passenger on Delta Air Lines Flight 1452 that arrived at New York's JFK International airport was questioned by law enforcement on Tuesday for leaving the bags behind in Seattle. The officials determined that there was for criminal intent by the passenger for leaving the bags behind.
A one-way baggage fee costs $25 for the first bag on Delta Air Lines for those traveling within the United States. A second bag costs $35 and a third costs $125. Those with overweight bags weighing 51 to 70 pounds are charged an additional $100. Bags that weight 71 to 100 pounds cost $200.
Delta makes good money off of baggage fees. In 2012, the airline collected more than $865 million in baggage fees, the Department of Transportation says. This is the most for any domestic airline. Altogether, U.S. airlines brought in $3.5 billion in baggage fees that year.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
