Airlines Go Cashless For Checked Bags

Airline passengers who want to pay in cash might find themselves spending more.

American Airlines, which stopped accepting cash payments for snacks and drinks on flights in 2010, also wants to eliminate cash for checked bags or overweight bags and other fees.

“There’s a very small chance somebody is actually using cash,” said Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for American Airlines, according to Arkansas Online. “There’s a cost to handling the cash, hold it and depositing it. All of our hubs are cashless.”

American isn’t the only airline moving in this direction. In fact, Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines are already both entirely cashless.

“We accepted cash at ticket counters until September of 2010,” said Krysta Levy, a spokesman for Allegiant. “We no longer accept cash at our counters or on board our aircraft for purchases.”

In addition, Delta’s website shows more than 50 airports at where cash is no longer accepted.

At those airports, “customers without an accepted form of payment may elect to purchase a Visa gift prepaid credit card payment card from a kiosk provided by a third-party vendor for a nominal fee,” according to the website.

Airlines are even requesting that more airports get on board with the cashless movement, such as the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field in Little Rock.

“Many of the airlines are going cashless — meaning they require cards for paying bag and other fees at the counter,” the staff said in documents submitted to the Little Rock Municipal Airport.

Airport officials are looking for commission approval for kiosks that would be installed, serviced and maintained by Ready Credit Corp., which has installed the kiosks in 75 other airports.

The kiosk will enable a customer, for a $5 fee, to purchase a card that can be loaded with up to $1,000 and used for purchases where Visa cards are accepted.

“Think of it as a reverse ATM,” said Shane Carter, the spokesman for Clinton National. “The airlines are our customers as well as the passengers. This will help both of them.”

If the commission approves the proposal this month, the kiosks would be installed by mid-September.