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Free checked bags via credit cards | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep353 | 4-10-26

April 10, 2026·52 min·4 clips

Listener Rick received €600 each — over $700 — from Iceland Air after a missed Prague connection, on a ticket that cost only $400 round trip.

1. Frequent Miler on the Air episode 353, April 10, 2026, focuses on how credit cards and other tactics can eliminate checked bag fees, which have risen to $45 at Delta, United, JetBlue, and Southwest. 2. Hosts Greg and Nick lead the discussion; Greg is traveling with a family group of seven during the recording. 3. The episode's core argument is that even infrequent flyers can avoid bag fees by strategically applying for airline credit cards before a trip, especially when first-year annual fees are waived. 4. Listener Rick's giant mail describes submitting an EU 261 compensation claim against Iceland Air after a one-hour departure delay caused him and his wife to miss their connecting flight to Prague and spend an overnight in Iceland. 5. Rick submitted via Iceland Air's dedicated EU 261 page using only a confirmation number, received €600 per person — over $700 each — within two weeks, on a ticket that cost $400 round-trip. 6. Nick notes that airlines are not required to inform passengers of their EU 261 eligibility and typically offer lodging and food while hoping passengers don't ask for the monetary compensation. 7. Nick adds that Steven Pepper posted a parallel experience under UK 261, claiming $700 from United on a flight originating in the UK, with United flight attendants even distributing a written notice of passenger rights before the flight was canceled. 8. The JetBlue Premier Mastercard ($499 annual fee) received significant enhancements: a new $300 credit on JetBlue Travel purchases with no minimums, a 15% award rebate including partner flights, 25 Mosaic tiles per year, and companion certificates from big spend. 9. Nick notes the card's original launch offering — unlimited JetBlue lounge access — was rendered nearly worthless because no JetBlue lounges existed at launch; the JFK lounge now opened and Boston is planned. 10. Rakuten is listing two Bank of America consumer cards at $150 cash back (or 15,000 Amex points), stackable with each card's own welcome offer of $200-$250 back on $1,000 in 90 days. 11. Rakuten's $50 friend referral deal has been extended; both the referrer and the referred friend receive $50 (or 5,000 points) once the friend completes a qualifying purchase. 12. Checked bag fees at Delta, United, JetBlue, and Southwest are now $45 for the first bag; a family of four on a round trip checking one bag each would pay $360 in total bag fees. 13. Most airline credit cards provide free checked bags to the primary cardholder and a number of companions on the same itinerary, but not to authorized users traveling separately. 14. Alaska, Hawaiian, Frontier, and United require the flight to be purchased with their card for the free bag benefit to apply, but United's 90-day new-cardholder exception waives this requirement. 15. Companion coverage varies widely: Frontier, Hawaiian, and Spirit give no companion bags; United allows one companion (two with premium cards); JetBlue allows three; American gives four to eight depending on card tier; Delta and Southwest allow up to eight companions. 16. Nick describes a strategy for infrequent Delta flyers: apply for the Delta Gold card (first-year fee waived), cover free bags for up to eight companions, then downgrade to the fee-free Blue card before the second-year fee, and upgrade back when the next Delta trip approaches. 17. American Airlines excludes international flights to Canada, Mexico, and most Caribbean destinations from its credit card free bag benefit, which has surprised at least one host mid-trip. 18. Nick reveals that car seats can be checked for free on most US airlines, and a car seat bag large enough to hold the seat can also hold diapers, laundry, and other items since agents do not open it at check-in. 19. Other paths to free bags include premium cabin bookings (sometimes competitively priced), status match challenges for temporary elite status, gifting American Airlines status for a day, using Chase Ritz-Carlton card for incidental reimbursement on low-cost carriers, and carry-on only. 20. Best suited for families or groups who regularly check bags and want a structured, card-by-card breakdown of how to eliminate those costs; less useful for frequent flyers who already have elite status covering this benefit.

As heard by us

A practical look at card-based ways to dodge checked-bag fees.

Frequent Miler on the Air treats checked-bag fees as a rewards problem and walks through the card rules that can make those charges go away. It moves from Rakuten and JetBlue into the details that actually matter: timing, eligibility, and whether the right card has to pay for…

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You want a cleaner way to beat checked-bag fees.

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