A work-around for NWA’s fees

I can tell just by the sheer intelligence of the comments that are regularly posted on this site, that News Cut readers are smart — smart enough, I’m betting, to come up with a way around the fees that Northwest Airlines has decided to impose on the traveling public.

To recap, they are:

  • $15 for the first checked bag. I assume this is actually a $30 charge, since you pay the same thing coming back.
  • A $25 fee for frequent flier tickets ($50 across the Atlantic and $100 across the Pacific. If you’re wondering — and even if you’re not — it costs about $1,460 to fly round-trip to Tokyo)
  • The fee for changing your non-refundable ticket will go up to $150.

    Alright, let’s put our heads together here and figure out a work-around.

    Can we expect to see people trying to jam Titannic-sized trunks into the overhead compartments? How much can we squeeze into a backpack. Is there a market out there for disposable jeans and T-shirts that only last about a week and can be purchased at your destination, used, then tossed?

    Go.