When you Google the exact phrase "Northwest Airlines Waives Bag Fees for U.S. Military" you get nearly 8,000 "hits," mostly stories published by news wire services and on travel Web sites, and most seemingly based on a press release issued by Northwest Airlines. You have to assume that hundreds, if not thousands, of newspaper, magazine, radio and television outlets ran with the story.

Considering most airlines are charging extra fees above the ticket price for even a single checked-in bag, this would appear to be welcome news to military travelers.

So you can imagine the surprise when my daughter's boyfriend, a 20-year-old lance corporal from Marine Corps Base Hawaii, flying home to Indiana for a quick visit with his parents before being deployed to Okinawa for seven months of live combat training, was told he could have to cough up $175 to check in three bags. Let me lay it on a bit thicker. The day this happened was Sept. 11, a day that kind of sticks in your mind. He's flying home to say so long to his parents before he's sent to a foreign country for combat training to prepare him for possible deployment to the war in Afghanistan. And one of the bags he wanted to check in actually was a garment bag containing a uniform he planned to wear when he addressed a group of third-graders in his hometown and tell them how swell it is to serve your country. And Northwest wanted to charge him $175 for THREE bags? To fly coach? I recently flew Delta — which Northwest is now part of — and for an extra $200 I got to fly FIRST CLASS. I didn't have bags to check in but if I had, as a first-class passenger, I wouldn't have been charged ANYTHING to check three bags.

The young fighting man told the check-in person he thought Northwest was not charging active-duty military for checked bags. Both he and my daughter were surprised to be told that applied only to active-duty with travel orders. He obviously had to get permission from the military to travel home and get back to the base before his unit was deployed. Doesn't that count? Nope. Because, you see, there was some small print involved in Northwest's patriotic offer.

Here's what the actual press release said:

"Northwest Airlines today announced it is waiving a fee for a third checked in bag by military personal traveling on Northwest Airlines ... in its continued support of military efforts around the world. Effective today, military personnel traveling on orders domestically or internationally may check up to three bags ... at no fee."

The key phrase in Northwest's baggage policy is "on orders," or, as the Washington Post put it, "on official travel." Active-duty Marines on a week's leave to see their families before deployment don't count.

Since lance corporals are paid less, I believe, than a McDonald's shift manager, my daughter ended up putting the $175 on her credit card.

This is just silly. Northwest decides arbitrarily who gets charged for bags and who doesn't. Those who don't include passengers in first class and deluxe coach, those with "Sky Miles" and "Sky Perks" and "Perky Miles" and who knows what else.

I tried to get Northwest's position on this, but even using all my skills as a former investigative reporter, I couldn't get hold of an actual news media relations human.

Here's the really stupid part of Northwest's military baggage fee program: The military pays for airline tickets for Marines traveling on "orders," including baggage fees.

Active-duty soldiers and Marines on leave, paying their own way home to see their folks — THEY are the ones who need a break on baggage fees.

Why not a "Military Home Leave Before Deployment Perky Miles Program"? Or if you are going to charge them $175 for three bags, at least let them ride in first class.