Tiger Airways is one of the Australian airlines that refuses to rule out the possibility of charging passengers for carry on luggage. This news came just after United States-based Spirit Airlines became the first to hit passengers with this fee.

Spirit Airlines is forging new ground in an industry trend to boost ancillary revenues. The goal is for the airline to charge $45 for carry on bags at the boarding gate. The company will only charge $30 if the passenger chooses to book ahead.

This charge does not apply to personal items that can be stored under the seat. This includes such things like laptops, cameras, nappy bags and umbrellas. This is a charge that will affect people that have to store things in the overhead bin.

United States airlines have been very aggressive lately in charging passengers for extra things. Most airlines in the United States are charging travelers $20 to $30 for checked bags. This is a move that has already been adopted by both Tiger Airways and Jetstar. However, Qantas has yet to adopt such a fee.

Tiger Airways, which has already said that it would like to boost its ancillary revenues, said that it will not rule out the idea of this new fee. Tiger Airways commercial director, Steve Burns, said that they want the absolute lowest airfare. Thus, they do not want their fares to be hurt by someone else’s lunch or extra baggage. If people use less, then they pay less. This is a business model that is only fair.

However, not all passengers agree. Most airline passengers admit that they expect less when flying with a low budget airline, but there are just some things that they do not expect to be charged for.