Bye bye baggage fees: Metro Detroit company helps you save money at the airport
(CBS DETROIT) - The pain of paying extra fees for a carry-on bag when flying could soon be a thing of the past, at least that's one Southfield-based entrepreneur's goal with the help of a piece of luggage that easily converts to a personal item.
When Detroit native Stephen Davis saw a gap in the market and a chance to make budget-friendly travel a little friendlier to his funds, he didn't hesitate to tell his wife.
"She understood the concept," he said. "She said, 'Yeah, this is something that would really take off, pun intended.'"
Davis got the idea to launch Takeoff Luggage in 2021 after buying a cheap flight to visit a friend. He was caught off guard by the carry-on luggage fee and after failing to find a bag big enough to fit his needs, but small enough to be considered a personal item he decided to design his own.
"I knew once word got around, and you could see what you can actually do with it, [I] knew that it was going to literally take off," Davis said.
There's been a lot of buzz about the suitcase on social media prompting Davis's initial inventory of 500 bags to sell out within a matter of months.
"We sold out really fast and then was the next step of what do we do next now that I'm sold out," he said.
Baggage fees have been a controversial issue for some time now. The Biden administration even announced a new rule requiring airlines to disclose the true cost of plane tickets including baggage and change fees.
According to the US Department of Transportation, just last year, passengers were forced to fork over billions of dollars in baggage fees alone.
It's a problem Davis says Takeoff Luggage can help solve.