Alaska, Horizon airlines to charge for first checked bag

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air will start charging passengers $15 for a first checked bag.

The charge will take effect July 7 for tickets purchased beginning May 1.

Many major U.S. airlines already charge a similar amount for checked luggage; Southwest Airlines is one of the few that has no fees for checked luggage.

To compensate for the new charge, Alaska and Horizon will guarantee passengers that luggage will be at baggage claim 25 minutes after their flight parks at the gate. If it isn't, passengers will get 2,500 frequent-flier miles or $25 off a future flight.

"We want to continue matching the lowest fare in the market without being at a revenue disadvantage to our competitors," Bill Ayer, Alaska Air Group's chairman and CEO, said Thursday.

"But we're also going to provide customers more value for what we're charging through the bag-service guarantee, which no other airline offers," he said.

Some passengers won't have to pay for a first checked bag.

First-class passengers, MVP and MVP Gold Mileage Plan members, children flying alone, military personnel on active duty and passengers traveling to or from Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico, will not be charged for a first checked bag.

Passengers traveling solely within Alaska will continue to be allowed three free checked bags.

Alaska already charges $25 for a second checked bag; that fee will remain the same. As the new first-bag charge takes effect, the fee for a third checked bag will drop from $100 to $50.

Kristin Jackson: kjackson@seattletimes.com