Tribune staff report | United Airlines said it plans to take the lug out of luggage during spring break by offering door-to-door luggage delivery for $25 each way.
Fliers can have up to nine bags, including golf clubs and skis, delivered to their destinations via FedEx standard overnight shipping on flights booked between March 18 and March 29. Weight, size and other restrictions apply.
Customers print labels at home and have bags picked up at their home of
office. Or, they can drop bags off at a FedEx shipping center.
“With United’s overnight Door-to-Door Baggage shipment and delivery
service, customers have another great opportunity to travel with added
convenience and flexibility,” said Jeff Foland, senior vice president of
worldwide sales and marketing.
For more information see united.com/doortodoor
For another $25 a bag, they will actually deliver them to YOUR door, not some random address that they find.
I wonder if they’ll ship my guitar from door-to-door?
They’re turning FedEx into the ‘Fly By Night Luggage Company.’
Hey, I’ll pay $25 dollars extra to make sure my bag arrives at my destination!
How about I pay $250 for my bag to fly on United and I’ll fly FedEx for $25? I’m sure flying FedEx is less stressful and more convenient than flying United.
Hey Tribune- instead of just printing United’s press release, how about you tell us if this is cheaper or more expensive than if a passenger were to bring the golf clubs on the flight with them. Reporting- remember it?
Actually this sounds like a good idea.
At least (hopefully) your luggage & items won’t be lost if your flight is changed, delayed or canceled & you have to make other arrangement to get to your destination! I believe it is cheaper than taking your bags with you as they charge for extra baggage!
United charges $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second. To get end-to-end delivery without having to deal with luggage at the airport is a great service at the same or lower price. I regularly do ship what I can by Priority Mail when I fly, but that’s 2-3 days, and you can barely send a letter overnight (Express) for $25. To get a 50 lb. (weight limit) bag shipped overnight for $25 is, again, a great service.
If it works and the two companies can make money on it, I like it a lot.
Hi this is FedEx calling. We’ll be at your residence to pick up your bag sometime between 9am and 7pm, please be sure to be home. Thank you.
makes sense – they cant do it right so let fed-x do it.
Just hope your flight isnt delayed or re-routed or you wont see the luggage for a few days. wonder if it will more secure or worse?
American had this service years ago.
And it was free for mileage club members.
United, I am not impressed by ANY of the services you provide! Get better customer service, maybe then I will fly with you!
fj | March 17, 2010 8:14 PM | Reply
American had this service years ago.
And it was free for mileage club members.
- doubt it, unless it was a trial offer to introduce frequent fliers to the service. No way that this was a recurring offer, sorry. I call BS.
Did no one else read the part about weight and size restrictions apply? Maybe you can only ship a small bag weighing 10 pounds for $25.00. If it’s a regular size bag weighing 50 pounds, it most likely cost $100.00.
United has had billboards about this FedEx service for months, so why is this advertisement being printed as news?
United has had billboards about this FedEx service for months, so why is this advertisement being printed as news?
Renee – open mouth, insert foot – from United’s website, which you could have checked before getting smarmy…
“The maximum allowable weight is 50 pounds per bag. Each bag being shipped must also be less than 119 inches in length or less than 165 inches in both length and girth. Length is defined by the longest side of the bag. Girth is equal to (2 x width) + (2 x height). United reserves the right to assess additional fees and/or refuse shipment for bags that exceed the above weight and size restrictions. FedEx may refuse shipment at the point of pickup or drop-off if a bag exceeds the allowable weight and size limitations.”
Give United a little credit for realizing that it is no good at something and giving the job to a company that is. On the other hand, they are also no good at flying people around, so let’s not get too excited until the outsource that as well.
What about bicycles? Will they pick up and deliver unboxed bicycles as well?
Oh, sure. That’s great. Did everyone catch the part where you print your own shipping label? Another way for the entity responsible for accepting / shipping / delivering your luggage to place blame and liability on you.
Don’t trust any airline that issues a press release offering “service”. They won’t offer “service” unless A) they can make money on it and B) the ultimate blame for anything that goes wrong goes to you — NOT them. Read the contract.
This is a good idea. I travel a lot for work and for the last 10 years or so I have shipped a lot of items, including my clothing and client materials, ets. ahead rather than taking them to the airport and worrying if they will be there when I arrive. Tying this to the airline ticketing makes real sense, although one could do the same thing themselves by contacting Fed-Ex or UPS.
Japan’s had this sort of thing for decades; it’s called Kuroneko (although there are several others). Pick up from your home, hotel, or another designated site and you don’t have to worry about your bags; they arrive on-time wherever you’re headed.
The real fun comes when you show up at the airport and are whisked away to a TSA interrogation room because you fit some profile on account of you didn’t have any luggage. Your luggage gets there, but you don’t.
This is actually a great service. I’ve had executives use this type of service in the past, when they had to travel all over the US for long periods of time, and it would cost over $100. I would take advantage of it while its cheap, cause after this special price it will simply be just another luxury like car service.
bf chicago – this is “news” because United is smart enough to advertise this rate via a press release. Look at United’s Web site. The normal cost is $79 – $99. It is a good deal if you do not want to check the luggage on your flight. Of course, you need to read the fine print. You also need to make sure the place you are going to will hold your luggage. Oh yeah … FedEx doesn’t make deliveries on weekends as far as I know.
This is a great idea! All airlines should offer this.
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.