Remember when you could check a bag for free...

...it wasn't that long ago. It was the golden age of flying. You could enter the airport, go up to the counter to hand off your biggest, heaviest suitcase filled with shampoo bottles and aerosol cans, answer a simple question ("No, this suitcase has not left my possession since I packed it."), and head to security with merely your computer bag or purse. Those were the days.

Now, since the historic airline bailout, all that is over. No more can you travel unencumbered through the airport, foot loose and fancy free. Airlines all across the board are trying to squeeze more money out of travelers any way they can. It can cost you $25 to check ONE bag ONE way, bringing your ticket price up by $50 (and, god forbid, you have more than one bag to check). This is a challenge for the casual traveler and a huge commitment for a traveling family- those fees add up. So, what do most travelers do to avoid this surcharge? They don't check bags. And boy, is that a hassle. With everybody carrying on everything the plane gets packed with luggage. The worst of it is, when flights are full, they make you check your rolly suitcase at the gate.

The process airlines have for checking bags planeside is contemptible. It infuriates me every time I have to do it. It's not so bad boarding the plane, you just leave your bag as you enter the plane and it gets whisked away. Once you land, however, everybody on the plane disembarks, then waits for their suitcases on the tiny jetbridge while others are try to exit through the crowd. It is obnoxious. Is this the best process airlines can come up with? It is a gigantic bottleneck in the jetbridge: people jockeying for the best position closest to the door, people squished up against the walls of the jetbridge, trying to keep an eye on the bags appearing by the packed door- 2 by 2. Last weekend there was even a wheelchair trying to make it to the plane through this huge logjam. How can this process be saving airlines any money? The suitcases still end up under the plane! And you've got to feel sorry for those guys who have to drag all those rolly suitcases up the jetbridge external stairs, two at a time. What about TSA security regulations- is it a good idea to have so many passengers standing unsupervised around that little door that leads directly to the tarmac? And are jetbridges even designed to hold that much weight???

Other than carrying on everything, though, there are two ways around this ridiculous checked bag fee. One solution is flying Southwest- no baggage fees ever. Seriously, fly Southwest.

The other option for working around the checked bag fee is to join a mileage program of your favorite airline and start earning enough miles for some sort of status. Then, after many many miles and that coveted status title , you can finally check your bags for free! If you yourself are not a frequent flyer with status but your traveling companion is, they can usually check your bags for free, as long as you are on the same reservation.

Or, you can bite the bullet, check the suitcase, and pay the $25 fee. After all... squeezing into the stall at the airport bathroom without having to wedge yourself between the toilet and your suitcase, that is priceless.