The familiar scramble for overhead-bin space is already one of the less pleasant parts of boarding a plane. An Australian budget airline has decided to address that problem with a solution passengers know well: another fee.
Jetstar will begin charging passengers who want to put qualifying carry-on luggage in overhead compartments, according to an Aug. 6 report from Fox Business.
Beginning in February 2027, travelers will have to purchase the airline’s “Priority Carry-on” option if they want to bring a larger carry-on bag for the overhead locker. The reported price works out to approximately $18 to $37 on a one-way flight.
The qualifying bag can weigh up to 22 pounds. Jetstar also plans to eliminate routine weighing of those carry-on bags before passengers board.
Travelers aren’t being left entirely bagless unless they pay. A smaller backpack, purse or laptop bag that fits underneath the seat in front of the passenger can still be brought aboard without the additional charge.
Jetstar CEO Stephanie Tully presented the change as an attempt to improve the boarding process rather than simply another source of airline revenue.
“By giving customers an underseat bag with the option to add Priority Carry-on, we can make better use of overhead locker space, streamline boarding and help more flights depart on time,” Tully said in a statement.
According to the airline, the decision followed its conclusion that weighing carry-on luggage and dealing with inadequate overhead-bin space were among the more frustrating parts of the customer experience.
The catch is that passengers who want that overhead space will need to purchase the privilege in advance.
For anyone accustomed to budget airlines, the concept of taking a basic part of flying and separating it into another paid option will probably sound familiar. Baggage fees, seat-selection charges and priority-boarding purchases have become important sources of revenue for low-cost carriers. Fox Business noted that some budget airlines operating in the United States and Europe already charge passengers for overhead-bin access.
Still, Jetstar’s announcement has generated some decidedly unfriendly reactions in Australia.
Sydney comedian and television writer James Colley turned the policy into the subject of a blistering Guardian column titled, “Every Jetstar flight is a rabid fight for survival. What’s one more humiliating ritual for the masses?”
Colley leaned heavily into exaggeration while describing what passengers supposedly accept when purchasing a budget ticket.
“Indignity is part of the Jetstar experience,” he wrote. “This is why we fly with budget airlines. We understand that for a marginally lower air fare, we will participate in what is less a typical flight and closer to a form of live cattle export.”
And he was just getting warmed up.
“You will be hustled towards your gate, spat upon like the scum you are and hosed down as you exit,” Colley joked. “This is fine. This is what we deserve. We are the underclass. We are dirt. We are pigs. Pigs do not deserve to fly.”
His preferred version of the low-cost airline experience sounds considerably more entertaining.
Colley imagined Jetstar resembling the third-class party aboard the Titanic, complete with “bagpipes and alcohol and high-energy dancing and a vague sense of foreboding as you realise this whole trip is doomed.”
“It should be dirty but charming, the airline equivalent of a dog who lives in a storm drain,” he wrote.
Whether Jetstar passengers eventually appreciate the trade-off remains to be seen. The airline’s argument is straightforward: fewer people competing for overhead space could mean faster boarding, fewer luggage disputes and more flights departing on schedule.
For passengers, however, it means something equally straightforward. That space directly above their heads, once treated as an ordinary part of the airline seat they purchased, will now come with its own price tag.
Colley found one last imaginary fee to add to the bill.
“This might not ever happen but we can dream,” he wrote. “Except it’s probably best not to dream if you are currently on a Jetstar flight — they will charge you for hallucinating your own in-flight movie.”
