Excess Baggage Fee is a Misnomer

I just checked in for my flight tomorrow to Kauai (correction: 3 flights to Kauai. Thanks, Delta, for eliminating the BOS-LAX non-stops. But, it's a reward ticket, so I shouldn't complain...), and have officially paid my first checked bag fee that I couldn't expense.

The receipt for my "purchase," however, is quite the misnomer.

I was charged $15 for "EXCESS BAGGAGE." Shouldn't this simply be a fee for a checked bag? I wouldn't consider checking one bag for a vacation to Hawaii as "excess."

If I had an appropriately-sized carry-on, I wouldn't be charged anything extra for it, and it would, therefore, not be considered excess. Technically, this is a "checked bag" fee. Or a "bag handling" fee.

Since I've already paid to check a bag, I'm considering bringing my monster suitcase (pictured to the right, taken in the parking lot at EWR before my journey to Croatia). I should make Delta work hard for the $15.

And why is the fee imposed per journey and not per flight leg? Thankfully, it's not. But the amount of work Delta will be doing to (hopefully) deliver my bag with me to Kauai is quite extensive. Load and unload onto three separate aircraft. 5 bucks a plane, $2.50 per load-on / load-off. Same charge as if I was checking a bag to LGA on the shuttle.

All I have to worry about tomorrow is waking up on time at the ungodly hour of 4:30 AM, and deciding upon curbside check-in or bag drop at the counter. I'll probably go to the counter, since it's a tip cheaper and psychologically, I just kinda feel that the odds improve that my bag will actually make it onto the correct flight.