Checked Bag Fees by Airline, and How to Avoid Them

Checked bag fees keep going up, and every airline has its own rules for who gets a free bag and when. This page has what a checked bag costs on each major U.S. airline, every credit card that waives the fee, and the fine print that decides whether the waiver works on award tickets, partner bookings, and trips the cardholder isn’t on. I update it whenever an airline changes its fees or a card changes its bag benefit.

Quick Answers

Checked bag fees by airline

What a standard checked bag costs in economy on domestic flights, each way. Where there are two prices, the lower one is for paying online at least 24 hours before departure.

Airline	First bag	Second bag
American	$45 ($50 within 24 hours)	$55 ($60 within 24 hours)
Delta	$45	$55
United	$45 ($50 within 24 hours)	$55 ($60 within 24 hours)
Southwest	$45	$55
Alaska	$45	$55
Hawaiian (now part of Alaska)	$45 to and from the mainland, $30 between the islands	$55 to and from the mainland, $40 between the islands
JetBlue	$50 to $70, depending on the date and when you pay	$70 to $85

JetBlue is the only one that also prices bags by travel date. Its “peak” calendar covers most of November, all of December, January through the 18th, spring break, and most of the summer, so the lower off-peak price mostly applies in the quiet weeks. The other airlines have charged $45 for a first bag since April 2026, and when one airline raises its fees, the rest have historically followed within days or weeks, so expect this table to change.

If you’re flying in a premium cabin, or have elite status with the airline, your bags are usually free regardless of these prices.

Credit cards that waive bag fees

Every card I know of that waives checked bag fees on a U.S. airline, with who it covers and what you have to do for it to work (tap an airline to narrow the list). For the bag alone, the cheapest card that covers everyone you usually travel with is the one to look at; the pricier cards only make sense if you’d use their other benefits. I don’t take affiliate or referral commissions, so there’s no link here that pays me if you apply (why).

At $45 to $70 a bag each way, one checked bag on one round trip costs $90 to $140, which is about the annual fee of the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select, Southwest Plus, Atmos Rewards Ascent, or JetBlue Plus ($95 to $99). So the card pays for itself if you take two trips a year with a bag on that airline, or one trip with a family checking two. If you fly once a year, or on a different airline each time, the annual fee usually isn't worth it, and an airline fee credit (below) may work better. The Card Finder can tell you which of these cards' welcome offers is best for you right now.

Award tickets and the free bag

Award tickets get the free bag on every airline here, as long as the cardholder is traveling and their frequent flyer number is on the reservation. Some airlines also want the ticket bought with their card:

• American, Delta, and Southwest: only the cardholder's frequent flyer number on the reservation. Delta's marketing says flights "booked with your card," but Delta’s terms only ask for your SkyMiles number, and the waiver covers up to nine people on the reservation.
• United: the ticket has to be bought with the card, and on an award ticket that means paying the taxes and fees (usually $5.60 each way on domestic flights) with your United card. United waives this for flights in your first 90 days.
• Alaska and Hawaiian: the bag is free when the airfare is paid with your Atmos card (or Hawaiian's card), so put the award taxes and fees on it.
• JetBlue: JetBlue's own bag page just lists cardmembers and up to three people on the same itinerary, but the card's terms say to use the card, so put the award taxes on it.

There's a cost to the airlines that make you pay with their card: you give up the travel protections of whichever card you'd otherwise use. Trip delay coverage generally only applies when the fare (or, on an award, the taxes and fees) went on the card that has it, so putting a United award's taxes on the Explorer means the Sapphire Reserve's trip delay coverage, which starts after 6 hours, no longer applies. The United Explorer and Quest have their own trip delay coverage after 12 hours, and the Atmos Summit has some too, but the Atmos Ascent and JetBlue Plus don't list any. My guide to credit card travel benefits compares which cards cover what.

Awards booked through a partner

An American flight booked with British Airways Avios, or a Delta flight booked with Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic points, is still an American or Delta flight, and American's or Delta's bag rules apply at the airport. The catch is that the partner's frequent flyer number is the one on the reservation, so the airline doesn't know you have its card. Add your own AAdvantage or SkyMiles number to the reservation (on aa.com or delta.com, in the app, or at check-in), and the free bag should apply as it would on any other booking. For American, the itinerary also has to be domestic and marketed and operated by American, which is what Citi's terms require. On an award ticket, replacing the partner's number costs you nothing, since the award doesn't earn miles anyway.

United and Alaska are less certain, because their cards also want the ticket bought with their card, and a ticket issued by a partner (a United flight booked with Aeroplan points, for example) wasn't. I wouldn't count on the free bag there.

When the cardholder isn’t flying

If you book an award from your account for your family and you're not on the flight, they don't get the free bag on almost any airline, because the benefit follows the cardholder, not the account the points came from:

• American: the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions on the same reservation (8 on the Globe and Executive); authorized users don't get it.
• Delta: the Basic Card Member and the passengers traveling with them on the same reservation; additional card members (authorized users) are excluded.
• United: the primary cardmember and one companion on the same reservation; authorized users only when they're on the primary cardmember's reservation.
• Southwest: the primary cardmember and up to 8 others on the same reservation; authorized users aren't eligible.
• Alaska and Hawaiian: the partial exception. An authorized user on an Atmos card who's flying can get the free bag, as long as the primary cardholder paid for the flight with the card (on an award, the taxes), so adding your spouse as an authorized user can cover the trip they take without you. Hawaiian's own card covers only the cardholder.
• JetBlue: the cardmember and up to 3 travelers on the same itinerary.

The simplest fix is for each adult who flies with the family to have their own card. In my house, my wife and I each have our own Alaska card, so whoever flies with our kid covers the bags.

Bank travel portals and authorized users

A ticket booked through a bank's travel portal (Chase Travel, Amex Travel, or Capital One Travel) is paid with points or a different card, so United and Alaska won't see it as bought with their card. American and Delta still waive the bag once your number is on the reservation, so add it after booking, and Southwest wants your Rapid Rewards number at the time of booking, so enter it in the portal.

Authorized users don't get the benefit on their own on American, Delta, Southwest, or United: the free bag belongs to the primary cardholder and the people on their reservation. Alaska is the exception noted above.

Other ways to avoid bag fees

• Elite status: every major airline gives at least one free bag at its lowest elite tier, and most premium cabin tickets include bags too.
• An airline fee credit: the Amex Platinum gives $200 a calendar year toward incidental fees, including bags, on one airline you select. It covers whichever airline you pick each year, which suits people who don't stick to one airline, but the card costs $895 a year and only makes sense if you'd use most of its other credits.
• Pay ahead: United, American, and JetBlue charge $5 to $15 less if you pay for the bag online at least 24 hours before departure.
• Travel carry-on only: on most fares a carry-on and a personal item are free, though some basic economy fares (United's domestic basic economy, for one) only include a personal item.

Late and lost bags: what you’re owed

A few airlines promise to have your bag on the carousel quickly and pay you when they don't, but you almost always have to ask:

• Delta: if your checked bag isn't on the carousel within 20 minutes of a domestic flight reaching the gate, you get 2,500 SkyMiles. You have to submit Delta's online form within two hours of your flight's arrival (it used to be three days), so do it from the carousel.
• Alaska and Hawaiian: the same 20-minute promise from the time the plane reaches the gate, worth a $25 discount on a future flight or 2,500 Atmos points. Tell an agent at the airport before you leave.
• American, United, Southwest, and JetBlue: no time guarantee. If a bag is delayed, they reimburse reasonable expenses (keep receipts), so report it at the airport before you leave.
• Every airline: if a checked bag is lost, or shows up more than 12 hours late on a domestic flight (15 or 30 hours on international flights, depending on length), the airline has to refund the bag fee. For a lost, damaged, or delayed bag, U.S. airlines can limit what they pay to $4,700 per passenger on domestic flights.

Many credit cards add lost or delayed baggage coverage on top of that when you pay for the ticket with the card; my guide to credit card travel benefits has the amounts by card.

Last checked: November 5, 2026.