I flew home for Thanksgiving last year with a checked bag I didn’t need: one sweater, a pair of boots, and a hostess gift that could have gone in my tote. It cost me $35 each way. This year that same bag would cost $45 each way on United, Delta, or Southwest, because all three raised their checked bag fees in April. If you’re flying for Thanksgiving and again for Christmas, checked bag fees in 2026 add up to $180 for one person and one suitcase. The usual advice is to just go carry-on only. That’s mostly right, but there’s a catch most packing guides miss, and you have to deal with it when you book the ticket, not when you pack.
Checked bag fees in 2026 jumped $10 in a single month
According to Afar’s roundup of the spring increases, United raised its first checked bag to $45 if you prepay more than 24 hours before departure, or $50 inside that window, for tickets bought from April 3. Delta moved to $45 for flights booked on or after April 8, and Southwest followed for tickets booked from April 9, going from $35 to $45. Second bags are now $55 on all three. JetBlue’s first bag starts at $39 but goes to $49 during peak periods, and major holidays count.
Southwest is the one that stings. It only started charging for checked bags in 2025, and by spring 2026 it was charging $45, the same as everyone else.
Airlines have every reason to keep pushing. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that U.S. passenger airlines collected $7.3 billion in baggage fees in 2024, which was 2.9% of their total operating revenue. That’s a lot of sweaters and boots.
The $180 suitcase: the math for two holiday trips
The math is easy to run for a typical holiday season. Thanksgiving is one round trip. That’s two flights, and at $45 prepaid that’s $90 for one checked bag. If you forget to pay ahead and do it at the airport within 24 hours of a United flight, it’s $50 each way, or $100.
Add a Christmas trip and you’re at four flights. Four times $45 is $180, for one person and one suitcase. If you’re traveling with a partner and you each check a bag, it’s $360. On JetBlue’s holiday peak pricing, it’s $49 a flight, so $196 per person for the two trips.
Think of $180 as a whole extra holiday gift, or a hotel night, spent on moving clothes you mostly could have worn twice. That’s why carry-on only is still the right default for a four-day Thanksgiving. Packing for one is easier than you’d think if you build outfits around one pair of shoes and wear your bulkiest layer on the plane.
Basic economy is the fare that breaks the carry-on plan
This is the part nobody mentions in those carry-on packing lists. On United, basic economy usually includes a personal item only, per Kayak’s 2026 guide to the airline’s rules. That means something that fits under the seat, up to 17 by 10 by 9 inches. A full-size carry-on (22 by 14 by 9 inches) isn’t included on most domestic basic fares, and if you show up at the gate with one, you pay the checked bag fee plus a gate handling fee on top of it. There are exceptions for some long-haul international routes, certain elite members, and some United credit card holders, but most of us don’t fall into those.
So if you booked the cheapest fare to save money and then packed a roller bag, you’ve signed up for the most expensive way to fly. It’s an easy mistake to make in November, because the cheap fare shows up first in search and the bag rule is buried in the fine print.
If you need a full-size bag, compare the price of basic economy plus a $45 checked bag each way against the price of a regular economy ticket that includes a carry-on. If the regular fare costs less than $45 more each way, buy the regular fare and bring your carry-on. If it’s more than $45, buy basic and check the bag (and pay ahead, not at the counter). Either way, make that choice when you book. Waiting until the night before you leave just narrows your choices to the expensive ones.
A full holiday flight is a reason to pack lighter, not just cheaper
There’s one more reason to keep it small. Holiday flights are packed. The Sunday after Thanksgiving last year, TSA screened a record 3.13 million passengers in one day, according to Reuters’ report on the TSA numbers. That beat the previous one-day record of 3.09 million from June. Full flights mean full overhead bins, and if you board in a late group with a roller bag, there’s a good chance it gets checked at the gate anyway.
A personal-item-sized bag avoids all of that. I use an under-seat duffel for Thanksgiving and a small carry-on for Christmas, when I’m usually bringing gifts. If you’re bringing presents, wrap them after you land, or ship them straight to whoever is hosting. Wrapped gifts take up a lot of room in a carry-on, and TSA can ask you to unwrap them anyway if something needs a closer look.
Don’t forget the liquids rule, which is still 3.4 ounces per container in a quart-size bag for carry-ons. If you can’t live without your full-size shampoo, that’s an argument for checking a bag, or for buying a travel-size one when you get there.
My checked bag fees plan for 2026: decide at checkout
My own plan is short. For Thanksgiving I’m going carry-on only, and I’ll buy whichever fare passes the $45 test on my route. For Christmas, when the gifts and the heavier sweaters come along, my partner and I are sharing one checked bag and prepaying it online more than 24 hours out, which is $5 cheaper per flight on United than paying at the airport. One shared bag on a round trip is $90 for the two of us, half the $180 we’d pay if we each checked one.
The big lesson from the 2026 checked bag fees is that the bag decision isn’t a packing decision anymore. It happens when you choose your fare. Look at what’s included before you click buy, do the $45 math, and pack to fit whatever you paid for.
If you’re still putting together your trip, my winter travel tips cover what to pack for colder destinations, and these ways to save money on travel can help you find the money for the trip itself.