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The Independent
2 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Revealed: The best and worst US airlines for carry-on baggage allowance
Airline Southwest recently ditched the cherished perk of free checked luggage, causing uproar among its customers. The policy was seen as a key differentiator between the Dallas-based airline and its competitors and means that now, all the major US airlines charge for checked luggage on domestic routes. So, does anything separate them when it comes to luggage policies? We raked over the often convoluted baggage rules and fees for the nine biggest American carriers and discovered that some are definitely more generous than others when it comes to leeway with luggage. We name the two airlines to avoid if you don't want to pay for carry-on bags, the ones with especially confusing explanations around their rules and declare which carrier is No.1 overall for carry-on generosity. American Airlines In the cabin: One personal item and one carry-on for free. Your personal item, like a purse or small handbag, must fit under the seat in front of you, says American Airlines. Dimensions should not exceed 18 x 14 x 8 inches, or 45 x 35 x 20cm. The total size of your carry-on, including the handles and wheels, cannot exceed 22 x 14 x 9 inches, or 56 x 36 x 23cm. Grand overhead bin total: 45 inches, or 114cm. In the hold: For travel within/between the U.S, Puerto Rico, and U.S Virgin Islands, the first checked bag fee in economy is $40 ($35 if you pay online) and the second checked bag fee is $45. For travel to/from Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and Guyana, the first checked bag fee is $35 and the second checked bag fee is $45. First checked bag is free for eligible AAdvantage credit cardholders and those with enough status; various international destinations, not including the UK. Delta Air Lines In the cabin: One personal item and one carry-on for free. Your personal item must fit under the seat in front of you. Carry-on bags for the overhead locker may not exceed 22 x 14 x 9 inches, or 56 x 35 x 23cm. Grand overhead bin total: 45 inches, or 114cm. In the hold: For travel on domestic flights within the U.S, first checked bag in economy is $35, second is $45. First checked bag is free for passengers on various international flights, including to Northern Europe; Delta SkyMiles Medallion Members and select Delta SkyMiles American Express Card Members. United Airlines In the cabin: One carry-on bag and one personal item for free "on most flights". Personal items must fit under the seat in front of you, so they must be 9 x 10 x 17 inches, or 22 x 25 x 43cm. Carry-on items for overhead bins must be no bigger than 22 x 14 x 9 inches, or 56 x 35 x 23cm. Grand overhead bin total: 45 inches, or 114cm. In the hold: United has a "checked bag fee calculator", which reveals that the first checked bag in economy on a domestic flight costs $40 ($35 prepaid) and must not exceed 62 linear inches, or 157cm. The first checked economy bag is free on many international flights, including to London, but a fee of $60 is charged on some routes. Southwest Airlines In the cabin: One bag and one personal item. The bag should be stowed in the overhead compartment, and the small personal item stowed under your seat. Carry-on items for overhead bins must be no bigger than 24 x 16 x 10 inches, or 60 x 40 x 25cm. Grand overhead bin total: 50 inches, or 127cm. In the hold: First checked bag in economy is $35, a second checked bag costs $45. Checked bags must not exceed a linear length of 62 inches, or 157cm. Alaska Airlines In the cabin: You're allowed one carry-on bag plus one personal item with Alaska. The carry-on bag size limit for flights on all aircraft types is 22 x 14 x 9 inches, or 56 x 35 x 23cm. Grand overhead bin total: 45 inches, or 114cm. In the hold: First checked bag in economy is $35, a second checked bag costs $45. Checked bags must not exceed a linear length of 62 inches, or 157cm. Frontier Airlines In the cabin: One personal item is included with your fare. Carry-on luggage incurs a fee of between $59 and a hefty $99 depending on your departure date and destination. Passengers must use a fee checker on the airline's website to find out what they'll be charged. Maximum size: 10 x 16 x 24 inches, or 25 x 40 x 60cm, including handles, wheels and straps. Grand overhead bin total: 50 inches, or 127cm. In the hold: Checked bags incur a fee depending on the departure date and destination (typically between $55 and $100) and must not exceed 62 linear inches, or 157cm. Hawaiian Airlines In the cabin: You're allowed one carry-on bag plus one personal item. The carry-on bag size limit for flights on all aircraft types is 22 x 14 x 9 inches, or 56 x 36 x 23cm. And bags must not exceed 25 Ibs (11kg). Grand overhead bin total: 45 inches, or 114cm. In the hold: First checked bag is $30 if flying to a neighbor island, second bag is $40. If flying to North America, first checked bag is $40 and second is $45. Checked bags are free on international flights, except to Australia and New Zealand. Hold bags must not exceed a linear size of 62 inches (157cm). JetBlue In the cabin: Each economy customer is allowed one carry-on bag and one personal item for free. Carry-on bags must not exceed 22 x 14 x 9 inches, or 55 x 35 x 22cm. Grand overhead bin total: 45 inches, or 114cm. There is no weight limit. In the hold: JetBlue's checked baggage rules are quite complicated, with passengers charged different fees depending on their fare type and when they book the baggage. Within the U.S, the first checked bag is $35, the second $40. For transatlantic flights the fee is $60 for "Blue Basic" but included for seats in tiers above this. Hold bags must not exceed a linear size of 62 inches (157cm). Spirit Airlines In the cabin: All passengers can bring one personal item, and carry-ons are free for three fare types, but those on the basic "Go travel" option will have to pay a fee of between $37 and $65 depending on whether they pay online, when checking in, or at the gate. Carry-on bags must not exceed 22 x18 x10 inches, or 56 x 46 x 25cm. Grand overhead bin total: 50 inches, or 127cm. Checked bags must not exceed 80 inches or 203cm in linear size. Verdict Southwest Airlines offers the best overall carry-on allowance, allowing passengers to take 50 inches of overhead bin luggage onboard for free. Frontier and Spirit are also generous with the carry-on size allowance, matching Southwest's 50 inches for overhead locker luggage, but they both charge basic fare passengers a fee. It's more difficult to separate the airlines when it comes to checked luggage, though many will find the fee-checking tools being used on some websites, such as Frontier and United's, annoying. Southwest garners extra points here for laying out its fees clearly in a table, while JetBlue, Hawaiian Airlines' and Spirit lose marks for less-than-clear baggage explanations.
Fast Company
4 hours ago
- Climate
- Fast Company
Why 4 billion people faced an extra month of extreme heat over the last year
Scientists say 4 billion people, about half the world's population, experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat because of human-caused climate change from May 2024 to May 2025. The extreme heat caused illness, death, crop losses, and strained energy and health care systems, according to the analysis from World Weather Attribution, Climate Central and the Red Cross. 'Although floods and cyclones often dominate headlines, heat is arguably the deadliest extreme event,' the report said. Many heat-related deaths are unreported or are mislabeled by other conditions like heart disease or kidney failure. The scientists used peer-reviewed methods to study how much climate change boosted temperatures in an extreme heat event and calculated how much more likely its occurrence was because of climate change. In almost all countries in the world, the number of extreme heat days has at least doubled compared with a world without climate change. Caribbean islands were among the hardest hit by additional extreme heat days. Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, endured 161 days of extreme heat. Without climate change, only 48 would have occurred. 'It makes it feel impossible to be outside,' said Charlotte Gossett Navarro, chief director for Puerto Rico at Hispanic Federation, a nonprofit focused on social and environmental issues in Latino communities, who lives in the San Juan area and was not involved in the report. 'Even something as simple as trying to have a day outdoors with family, we weren't able to do it because the heat was too high,' she said, reporting feeling dizzy and sick last summer. When the power goes out, which happens frequently in Puerto Rico in part because of decades of neglected grid maintenance and damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017, Navarro said it is difficult to sleep. 'If you are someone relatively healthy, that is uncomfortable, it's hard to sleep . . . but if you are someone who has a health condition, now your life is at risk,' Gossett Navarro said. Heat waves are silent killers, said Friederike Otto, associate professor of climate science at Imperial College London, one of the report's authors. 'People don't fall dead on the street in a heat wave . . . people either die in hospitals or in poorly insulated homes and therefore are just not seen,' he said. Low-income communities and vulnerable populations, such as older adults and people with medical conditions, suffer the most from extreme heat. The high temperatures recorded in the extreme heat events that occurred in Central Asia in March, South Sudan in February and in the Mediterranean last July would have not been possible without climate change, according to the report. At least 21 people died in Morocco after temperatures hit 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) last July. People are noticing temperatures are getting hotter but don't always know it is being driven by climate change, said Roop Singh, head of urban and attribution at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, in a World Weather Attribution statement. 'We need to quickly scale our responses to heat through better early warning systems, heat action plans, and long-term planning for heat in urban areas to meet the rising challenge,' Singh said. City-led initiatives to tackle extreme heat are becoming popular in parts of South Asia, North America, Europe and Australia to coordinate resources across governments and other agencies. One example is a tree-planting initiative launched in Marseille, France, to create more shaded areas. The report says strategies to prepare for heat waves include monitoring and reporting systems for extreme temperatures, providing emergency health services, cooling shelters, updated building codes, enforcing heat safety rules at work, and designing cities to be more heat-resilient. But without phasing out fossil fuels, heat waves will continue becoming more severe and frequent and protective measures against the heat will lose their effectiveness, the scientists said.
BreakingNews.ie
10 hours ago
- Climate
- BreakingNews.ie
Four billion endured extra month of extreme heat due to climate change
Four billion people, about half the world's population, experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat because of human-caused climate change from May 2024 to May 2025, scientists have said. The extreme heat caused illness, death, crop losses, and strained energy and healthcare systems, according to the analysis from World Weather Attribution, Climate Central and the Red Cross. Advertisement 'Although floods and cyclones often dominate headlines, heat is arguably the deadliest extreme event,' the report said. Many heat-related deaths are unreported or are mislabelled by other conditions such as heart disease or kidney failure. The scientists used peer-reviewed methods to study how much climate change boosted temperatures in an extreme heat event and calculated how much more likely its occurrence was because of climate change. In almost all countries in the world, the number of extreme heat days has at least doubled compared with a world without climate change. Advertisement Caribbean islands were among the hardest hit by additional extreme heat days, the report said. Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, endured 161 days of extreme heat. Without climate change, only 48 would have occurred. 'It makes it feel impossible to be outside,' said Charlotte Gossett Navarro, chief director for Puerto Rico at Hispanic Federation, a non-profit focused on social and environmental issues in Latino communities, who lives in the San Juan area and was not involved in the report. 'Even something as simple as trying to have a day outdoors with family, we weren't able to do it because the heat was too high.' Advertisement When the power goes out, which happens frequently in Puerto Rico in part because of decades of neglected grid maintenance and damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017, Ms Gossett Navarro said it is difficult to sleep. 'If you are someone relatively healthy, that is uncomfortable, it's hard to sleep… but if you are someone who has a health condition, now your life is at risk,' she said. Heatwaves are silent killers, said Friederike Otto, associate professor of climate science at Imperial College London, one of the report's authors. 'People don't fall dead on the street in a heatwave… people either die in hospitals or in poorly insulated homes and therefore are just not seen,' she said. Advertisement Low-income communities and vulnerable populations, such as older adults and people with medical conditions, suffer the most from extreme heat. The high temperatures recorded in the extreme heat events that occurred in Central Asia in March, South Sudan in February and in the Mediterranean last July would have not been possible without climate change, according to the report. At least 21 people died in Morocco after temperatures hit 48C last July. The report says strategies to prepare for heatwaves include monitoring and reporting systems for extreme temperatures, providing emergency health services, cooling shelters, updated building regulations, enforcing heat safety rules at work, and designing cities to be more heat-resilient. Advertisement But without phasing out fossil fuels, heatwaves will continue becoming more severe and frequent and protective measures against the heat will lose their effectiveness, the scientists said.
The Independent
11 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Half of world's population endured extra month of extreme heat due to climate change, experts say
Scientists say 4 billion people, about half the world's population, experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat because of human-caused climate change from May 2024 to May 2025. The extreme heat caused illness, death, crop losses, and strained energy and health care systems, according to the analysis from World Weather Attribution, Climate Central and the Red Cross. 'Although floods and cyclones often dominate headlines, heat is arguably the deadliest extreme event,' the report said. Many heat-related deaths are unreported or are mislabeled by other conditions like heart disease or kidney failure. The scientists used peer-reviewed methods to study how much climate change boosted temperatures in an extreme heat event and calculated how much more likely its occurrence was because of climate change. In almost all countries in the world, the number of extreme heat days has at least doubled compared with a world without climate change. Caribbean islands were among the hardest hit by additional extreme heat days. Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, endured 161 days of extreme heat. Without climate change, only 48 would have occurred. 'It makes it feel impossible to be outside,' said Charlotte Gossett Navarro, chief director for Puerto Rico at Hispanic Federation, a nonprofit focused on social and environmental issues in Latino communities, who lives in the San Juan area and was not involved in the report. 'Even something as simple as trying to have a day outdoors with family, we weren't able to do it because the heat was too high," she said, reporting feeling dizzy and sick last summer. When the power goes out, which happens frequently in Puerto Rico in part because of decades of neglected grid maintenance and damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017, Navarro said it is difficult to sleep. 'If you are someone relatively healthy, that is uncomfortable, it's hard to sleep ... but if you are someone who has a health condition, now your life is at risk,' Gossett Navarro said. Heat waves are silent killers, said Friederike Otto, associate professor of climate science at Imperial College London, one of the report's authors. ' People don't fall dead on the street in a heat wave ... people either die in hospitals or in poorly insulated homes and therefore are just not seen,' he said. Low-income communities and vulnerable populations, such as older adults and people with medical conditions, suffer the most from extreme heat. The high temperatures recorded in the extreme heat events that occurred in Central Asia in March, South Sudan in February and in the Mediterranean last July would have not been possible without climate change, according to the report. At least 21 people died in Morocco after temperatures hit 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) last July. People are noticing temperatures are getting hotter but don't always know it is being driven by climate change, said Roop Singh, head of urban and attribution at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, in a World Weather Attribution statement. 'We need to quickly scale our responses to heat through better early warning systems, heat action plans, and long-term planning for heat in urban areas to meet the rising challenge,' Singh said. City-led initiatives to tackle extreme heat are becoming popular in parts of South Asia, North America, Europe and Australia to coordinate resources across governments and other agencies. One example is a tree-planting initiative launched in Marseille, France, to create more shaded areas. The report says strategies to prepare for heat waves include monitoring and reporting systems for extreme temperatures, providing emergency health services, cooling shelters, updated building codes, enforcing heat safety rules at work, and designing cities to be more heat-resilient. But without phasing out fossil fuels, heat waves will continue becoming more severe and frequent and protective measures against the heat will lose their effectiveness, the scientists said. ____ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Associated Press
11 hours ago
- General
- Associated Press
Half of world's population endured extra month of extreme heat due to climate change, experts say
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Scientists say 4 billion people, about half the world's population, experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat because of human-caused climate change from May 2024 to May 2025. The extreme heat caused illness, death, crop losses, and strained energy and health care systems, according to the analysis from World Weather Attribution, Climate Central and the Red Cross. 'Although floods and cyclones often dominate headlines, heat is arguably the deadliest extreme event,' the report said. Many heat-related deaths are unreported or are mislabeled by other conditions like heart disease or kidney failure. The scientists used peer-reviewed methods to study how much climate change boosted temperatures in an extreme heat event and calculated how much more likely its occurrence was because of climate change. In almost all countries in the world, the number of extreme heat days has at least doubled compared with a world without climate change. Caribbean islands were among the hardest hit by additional extreme heat days. Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, endured 161 days of extreme heat. Without climate change, only 48 would have occurred. 'It makes it feel impossible to be outside,' said Charlotte Gossett Navarro, chief director for Puerto Rico at Hispanic Federation, a nonprofit focused on social and environmental issues in Latino communities, who lives in the San Juan area and was not involved in the report. 'Even something as simple as trying to have a day outdoors with family, we weren't able to do it because the heat was too high,' she said, reporting feeling dizzy and sick last summer. When the power goes out , which happens frequently in Puerto Rico in part because of decades of neglected grid maintenance and damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017, Navarro said it is difficult to sleep. 'If you are someone relatively healthy, that is uncomfortable, it's hard to sleep ... but if you are someone who has a health condition, now your life is at risk,' Gossett Navarro said. Heat waves are silent killers, said Friederike Otto, associate professor of climate science at Imperial College London, one of the report's authors. 'People don't fall dead on the street in a heat wave ... people either die in hospitals or in poorly insulated homes and therefore are just not seen,' he said. Low-income communities and vulnerable populations, such as older adults and people with medical conditions, suffer the most from extreme heat. The high temperatures recorded in the extreme heat events that occurred in Central Asia in March, South Sudan in February and in the Mediterranean last July would have not been possible without climate change, according to the report. At least 21 people died in Morocco after temperatures hit 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) last July. People are noticing temperatures are getting hotter but don't always know it is being driven by climate change, said Roop Singh, head of urban and attribution at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, in a World Weather Attribution statement. 'We need to quickly scale our responses to heat through better early warning systems, heat action plans, and long-term planning for heat in urban areas to meet the rising challenge,' Singh said. City-led initiatives to tackle extreme heat are becoming popular in parts of South Asia, North America, Europe and Australia to coordinate resources across governments and other agencies. One example is a tree-planting initiative launched in Marseille, France, to create more shaded areas. The report says strategies to prepare for heat waves include monitoring and reporting systems for extreme temperatures, providing emergency health services, cooling shelters, updated building codes, enforcing heat safety rules at work, and designing cities to be more heat-resilient. But without phasing out fossil fuels, heat waves will continue becoming more severe and frequent and protective measures against the heat will lose their effectiveness, the scientists said. ____ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at .
