Flying to Mallorca costs only the Caribbean, the problem is that the airline business is no longer your tickets: it’s your clothes

This week We counted That, if you have not reserved your vacation in the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands or one of those other “hot” points of the Mediterranean coast, the same may come out, or even cheaper, a stay in the Caribbean. The paradox is that the fault is not of the flights, it is from the hotels. In fact, the price of flying, without more, has not shot how it is usually pointed. What has really changed is the airline business model.

Your ticket is no longer as important as what you wear.

A billionaire business. It The BBC counted In a report this week that put figures to the business. What was once a standard service (billing a suitcase without cost, choosing a seat or receiving food on board) has been transformed by airlines into a colossal source of income. With the rise of low-cost companies in the mid-2000s, headed by Flybe And then replicated by giants such as American Airlines, collection was institutionalized by invoiced suitcases, a trend that today includes hand luggage (the last resolution in Europe It will bring tail) and with ideas increasingly “creative”.

The result is a market of “accessory rates” that only in the United States generated more than 7,270 million dollars in 2024 by billed luggage, and that will globally reach the 145,000 million this yearrepresenting 14% of the sector’s income. This phenomenon has caused indignation between consumers and politicians, who accuse the airlines of applying the so -called Like “Junk Fees” (junk rates) camouflaged in the price End of the ticket.

The luggage fever (hand). Given this scenario, millions of passengers have chosen to travel Only with hand luggageshooting the demand for small suitcases that meet the strict dimensions imposed by the airlines. He counted the medium British that marks Like Antler They have seen the searches and sales of compact models increase massively, while in social networks (Especially Tiktok) The content related to “luggage tricks” and suitcases tests in real airline meters has been popularized.

Here are influencers Like Chelsea Dickensonwho have turned these types of videos into the core of their online activity, generating more impact than the content on the destinations themselves. In other words, the phenomenon demonstrates how the industry has even influenced consumption habits prior to trip.

The legal controversy. We have been counting it. The growing collection even for hand luggage has caused a Formal reaction in Europewhere consumer organizations Like Beuc They have denounced a Several airlines (including Ryanair, Easyjet, Vueling and Wizzair) before the European Commission. They claim that these charges violate a 2014 judgment of the EU Court of Justice that establishes that hand luggage, if it meets reasonable weight and security requirements, cannot be an additional cost.

However, the concept of “reasonable requirements” remains that gray area that still lacks a firm legal definition and that the airlines are grabbed, which allows them to continue applying charges according to their own criteria. In fact and as we said, the European Union has approved This week his position in favor of the regulation that will continue to allow airlines to charge for the hand luggage that travels in the cabin (yes, with the vote against Spain).

The case of Indigo. The BBC counted that, in the face of the globalized tendency to monetize each service, some airlines, such as Indian Indiathey have remained out. Its executive director defends a policy of not charging for invoiced suitcases, arguing that prevents endless ranks and unnecessary conflicts in the shipping doors.

Its operational model, which allows changes in just 35 minutes, demonstrates that an efficient logistics does not require squeezing the passenger for each basic service. This alternative, although marginal, emphasizes that there can be another type of relationship with the client in the air industry, challenging the dominant narrative of the sector.

Between efficiency and abuse. In summary, the evolution of luggage collection reflects a paradigm change: the air trip has been fragmented in copper parts, leaving the passenger in a constant search for How to avoid paying further. While airlines defend their model in response to competition and the need for income, consumers and legislators question to what extent this strategy erodes the experience of flying.

Thus, the hand luggage boom and the appearance of those “triprs of the trip” eager for visits reflect a culture of the minimum luggage as a form of economic resistance. If you want also, as forced adaptation to an increasingly hostile environment for the common traveler.

Flying has ceased to be expensive, because what we carry with us is the real business.

Image | Stockcake

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