Amtrak, America’s national passenger railroad company, is taking advantage of airlines announcing changes to coveted passenger perks.
A few hours after Southwest announced it would no longer be offering two free checked bags to most passengers starting in May, Amtrak boasted its luggage policy in a post on X.
“Guess we’re the only ones doing free baggage now,” the train corporation wrote.
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Amtrak then responded to the post with a link to its policy for carry-on luggage, which states each passenger may bring one personal item and two carry-on items for free as long as they are not over the weight limit.
Personal items must be lighter than 25 lbs. while carry-on items must be under 50 lbs. each. Bags must be repacked if they weigh more than the designated amounts – unlike most airlines, where passengers will be charged a fee to travel with an overweight bag.
Customers are only charged an excess baggage fee of $20 if the bags are larger than the required dimensions or if passengers are traveling with more than the three allowed items. Only two excess bags are allowed per passenger.
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Amtrak’s subtle brag earned the company hundreds of comments in response to the post on X, around 40,000 likes and more than 3 million views.
Southwest, the only airline to offer free checked bags to all passengers, announced the policy change on Tuesday, crediting it to a need to drive revenue growth and return to a level of profitability expected by shareholders.
Passengers will be charged for their first and second checked bags for all flights booked on or after May 28, the carrier said in a statement. In hopes of encouraging more people to join its loyalty program, Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred members and customers traveling on Business Select fares will still receive two free checked bags. A-List Members and “other select customers” will get one free checked bag.
While the carrier’s website does not state how much baggage fees will cost once the new policy takes effect, a third checked bag will currently cost a Southwest passenger around $150 and overweight bags can cost as much as $200.
Though travel times are quite different between trains and planes, Amtrak does offer more than 30 routes to all major cities and many smaller areas within the U.S.
Railroad passengers can travel to and from around 500 destinations within 46 states on Amtrak.
FOX Business’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.
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