Aeroflot Airlines announced the extension of baggage-free fares to a significant portion of long-haul routes. The new fares will go on sale on December 24 for flights from the same date, Travel.ru's own correspondent reports.
At the first stage, baggage-free tariffs will appear for transportation from Moscow or St. Petersburg to the USA, India, Thailand, as well as Havana, Denpasar (Bali), Colombo, Male, Ulaanbaatar and Ho Chi Minh City. It is easy to see that the list is based on popular winter beach resorts, which currently have a particularly high passenger flow. The new baggage-free tariff will be called "Light". It will replace the current "Budget" tariff group.
Apparently, there will be no baggage-free fares for flights from other cities in Russia or abroad to the same airports for now. However, it is quite possible that they will soon be extended to routes not yet covered - in any case, in the spring Aeroflot moved from a number of test medium-haul routes to full coverage of such routes with baggage-free fares in just a few weeks.
Passengers wishing to fly with baggage on the affected routes should purchase tickets before the end of the day on December 23 Moscow time. From December 24, transportation with baggage will become significantly more expensive. On the contrary, those planning to fly without baggage should wait - it is possible that on December 24 the price for a flight without baggage on these routes will decrease slightly.
Rates for adding baggage to baggage-free fares on long-haul routes have not yet been published. However, if Aeroflot applies the same logic as on short-haul and medium-haul routes, then such an addition on flights to the US will cost 75 euros per bag more than 24 hours before departure, 80 euros online on the last day before departure, and 100 euros at the airport. On routes to Asia and Cuba, the price will most likely be 80 euros in advance, 90 euros on the last day, and 100 euros at the airport.
Members of elite Aeroflot Bonus levels and other SkyTeam alliance loyalty programs will be able to carry one piece of checked baggage free of charge even on baggage-free fares. Aeroflot's rule on free carriage of ski equipment (and on some routes, diving equipment) will not apply to baggage-free fares.
The innovation will allow Aeroflot to slightly reduce the minimum fare (by depriving it of included baggage) and thus better compete with other carriers in terms of price. At the same time, as the experience of almost any airline shows, the introduction of baggage-free fares inevitably leads to an increase in the price of the minimum baggage fare - and often such an increase turns out to be much more significant than the reduction of the minimum fare. In other words, on average, flying becomes noticeably more expensive (although cheaper for individual passengers).
There are currently several approaches to baggage-free fares on long-haul routes in the world. Asian carriers generally do not practice them, with the exception of budget airlines. American carriers almost universally apply baggage-free fares on long-haul routes. European airlines have different approaches. Almost none of them apply baggage-free fares on Asian routes, but some carriers have introduced baggage-free fares on American routes. Aeroflot has applied something similar - its baggage-free fares have so far been introduced on routes to North America and to those points in Asia where there are no (or very few) direct flights from Asian competitors.
Source: travel.ru
