One approach to keeping cheap airplane tickets cheap and really taking advantage of cheap travel in the face of the airlines decision to continue increasing the prices of checked bags is to consider transporting your bags ahead of time.
Depending on the size and weight of your bags, UPS and FedEx Ground sometimes are now offering cheaper prices to ship your belonging.
Typically you will not save money if you are checking up to two standard size bags weighing less than 50 lbs. However, the other benefits of shipping your belongings ahead of you include better tracking, insurance, and security, with no waiting in line at the airport, may be enticing. Plus you dont have to worry about something in your bag disappearing in route or deal with the hassles of lugging around your bags.
If your bag weighs more than 50 lbs you can save as much as 50% by using USPS, since airlines charge as much as $90 more each way for overweight bags.
The savings are that much greater if you need to ship an overweight and oversized bag (defined as bigger than 61-62 linear inches).
You can safely bet that the airlines are not finished raising the prices they charge for checked bags. Sooner than later you may find that you can save money and aggravation by shipping vs. checking bags.