This year my family has ditched Tiger, Jetstar and Virgin Blue for domestic flights on a regular basis because, on a good day, the extra charges for breakfast, dinner, and especially a checked bag, erode the difference between them and Qantas.

There are of course bad days, when Qantas wants $100, even $200 more for a sector, when Virgin Blue usually wins. Tiger hasn’t won a single buy yet, partly due to lack of service frequency, but mostly because of a peculiar pricing policy that thinks it is worth more than anyone else at short notice, which is, let’s be clear, deluded thinking.

Which makes this study in the US interesting reading when it comes to checked bag fees.

It came out just as United was offering an annual fee of just over $250 at current rates for its passengers to enjoy ‘free’ baggage checking. Then again, United needs cash up front, and US frequent flyers have already been stung by other schemes supposed to help them avoid having to remove their shoes, or allow them to jump to the front of the queues of belt, shoes and boarding pass clutching passengers attempting to juggle their laptops and phones at the same time.

In my case, I fall into the category of person who is paying Virgin Blue for example $8 to check my nail clippers, since my overnight bag is never anywhere near the weight or size limits for carry-ons. Not smart, but then again, I don’t have to hassle for overhead locker space either, or try and buy clippers every time I spend a night away.