Air Canada Increases Fees For Additional Baggage For Flights From Kingston, Jamaica

By Neil Armstrong
Contributing Editor

MONTREAL, Quebec (Thursday, February 2, 2023) — Air Canada says its increase in fees for additional checked baggage on flights from Kingston, Jamaica, to Canada and the U.S. is, in part, to encourage customers to “pack more conservatively”.

In a notice on its website, dated January 17, 2023, the airline says it has revised its checked baggage policy. The following baggage fees apply to basic, standard, flex, and comfort fares, and are per direction: first bag for 30 CAD/USD (unchanged); second bag for 200 CAD/USD; and each additional bag for 500 CAD/USD.

“The reason is that we operate this route with smaller, narrow-body aircraft that have less belly hold space, but customers historically, bring more baggage than average. This sometimes resulted in bags being left behind and needing to be delivered later, which among other things was inconvenient for customers,” says a spokesperson from the airline’s media relations department.

Responding to an inquiry by Pride News Magazine, the spokesperson said the additional bag fee is to promote a fairer distribution of available baggage capacity and to encourage customers to pack more conservatively.

“It was also deemed a better option than simply placing a limit on the number of bags per person in order that those who need to bring additional bags still have the option.”

Meanwhile, several Jamaicans in Toronto are very upset by this news. Sandra said a second baggage is now equivalent to half of a fare; Rhona described it as a travesty; Mark said it must be fake news; Camille says she can’t believe it; and Lorraine said that means she won’t be able to bring gifts for family and friends in a second piece of luggage — something she does whenever she travels to Kingston.