What's not to like about baggage fees?

People are increasingly complaining about the airlines nickel and diming them for everything from a pillow to a bag of peanuts. Baggage fees are a favorite complaint. But strange as it may sound, I like the pay-as-you-go plan. The airline has to make a profit or it won’t be able to keep providing its service. It’s going to charge for the number of passengers and pounds of baggage it has to move. If there is no explicit baggage fee, then it is clearly divided equally between all the passengers.

When I travel, I do my best to get everything into a single carry-on. I do this because I don’t want to wait a half hour or more at baggage claim for my checked bags to show up. I also had a terrible experience with Air France losing a bag, then finding it in a warehouse at LAX over a year later and trying to charge me hundreds of dollars for storage fees. I finally won that fight, but who needs that kind of hassle?

So when I’m in line with my cozy little carry on and the person behind me shows up with a team of stevedores and 4 steamer trunks, I don’t want to pay the same as they do. It’s not fair to me. I’m being charged more for my ticket so that people who have no intention of being thrifty in their packing can get a free ride. Give me the baggage fees. I’ll deal with them by not having baggage. What do you think?