Rising Baggage Fees: Ship your luggage next time you fly.

Skyrocketing price of fuel and the increased charges on luggage on board has really convinced travelers to think for a cheaper alternative of sending their luggage separately. On Tuesday Delta Airlines announced that it will double its charges for checking a second bag on domestic flights from $25 to $50. It’s very much expected from other carriers to follow Delta’s lead and raise their fees as well. That’s why flyers are starting to consider shipping their baggage instead.

Luggage free travel: With a little planning ahead, FedEx.com and UPS.com help you to ship your luggage to anywhere in the United States for about as much as it would cost to check it. FedEx.com and UPS.com have rate calculators that factor in distance, weight and travel time. For example, sending a 40-pound suitcase from New York to Disney World is about $50, including insurance up to $500 (which airlines certainly don’t offer). But this least expensive option takes about 5 days, and would require a little planning ahead.

In addition to possible cost savings, delivery services have other potential advantages over airlines such as delivery confirmation and insurance for lost luggage which airlines don’t provide despite the fact that they’ve begun charging for baggage services.

Though shipping your luggage is cheaper and more efficient than flying with it, you need to consider some important issues:

• Before shipping your luggage make sure they will accept luggage and can store it securely until your arrival, recommends Sally Davenport, a FedEx spokeswoman.
• As per UPS spokeswoman, neither UPS nor FedEx advocate sending your luggage to an international destination. Some countries won’t accept packages containing personal affects and others have duties and taxes that could cost you. Plus, “there’s no telling how long it will take”.
• Some of your items such as Aerosol sprays, perfume, cologne and nail polish remover are all considered dangerous goods and can’t be shipped.
• Another thing to consider is that these shipping services are not designed for luggage and sticky air bills can easily get dislodged from suitcase surfaces. Davenport recommends including an address bill inside the bag just in case the tag gets lost so your luggage can eventually be identified and returned.

To make it easier for you, there are services such as Houston-based Luggage Express will pick up your luggage right from your front door and a concierge will monitor it until it reaches your destination. But after all that customer service does come at a cost. Sending a medium-sized suitcase from New York to Orlando is a little more than $100 each way, although using the promotion code “gasbreak” will save 15% on deliveries before Sept. 30.

But if you’re going to splurge, you might just consider bucking up for Business Class next time you fly. First Class and Business customers are able to check up to three bags at no charge.

Fees for Frequent-Fliers on Delta Airlines

Delta airlines declared a fuel surcharge of $25 on flights to domestic destinations (including Canada) and $50 on international flights for customers cashing in their frequent flier miles.

Managing director of Delta’s Sky Miles program, Jeff Robertson said: “Delta Airline has seen considerable financial stress, as the price of fuel has nearly doubled in the last year, so the airline is implementing initiatives across all areas of the business to mitigate the extraordinary run up in fuel expense”.

A similar initiative was announced by US Airways earlier this month. They’ll charge $25 to redeem frequent flier miles for domestic flights and to Canada, and $35 for flights to Mexico and the Caribbean. $50 will be charged on flights to Hawaii or to international destinations outside of North America.