"There's an increasing feeling among consumers that they're being taken advantage of," says William Maloney, president of the American Society of Travel Agents. "Consumers have more rights when they buy a hammer at a hardware store than when they buy a $1,000 airline ticket." Some airline flight fees are just crazy. For instance, United charges $400 for a bag weighing 71-100 pounds on flights to Africa, the Middle East and some Pacific destinations. Delta charges $250/person for international flight changes. On the other hand, Air Tran Airways spokesman Christopher White says passengers like some of the new a-la-carte options because they only pay for what they use. Here are some of the recent changes to flight fees in the last two years.
Many people complain about the cost of airline flight tickets these days. One complaint is that "taxes and fees keep going up." Some of these airline ticket fees are automatically added on, while others are completely avoidable. For instance, you will not be able to avoid some of the airport security fee taxes, such as the 9/11 Security Fee ($10), the Passenger Facility Charges ($18), the Federal Domestic Flight Segment Fee ($3.50 each way), the U.S. International Departure tax ($15.40 per international departure), the US International Arrival tax ($15.40), the US Customs fee ($5), the Immigration fee ($7) and an Animal and Plant Health Inspection fee ($5).
On the other hand, you can avoid a $10-20 surcharge to buy your airline flight over the phone with American Airlines, US Airways, Southwest and Jet Blue by purchasing a cheap airline ticket online instead. You can also take special care not to require a reservation change, which could charge you anywhere from $30 to $250. Pack light, as checked luggage surcharges range from $50-$100. You will also need to be more flexible in your seating preferences, now that airlines are charging $7 for an aisle or window seat or $20 to sit in an emergency exit row. Northwest now charges customers $25-$100 to redeem frequent flier miles, while several other airlines require that your miles be redeemed by phone (so they can get that $10-$20 surcharge).
According to CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg, there are several ways to avoid airline flight fees and surcharges. Packing lighter will save you a lot of stress. If that's not possible, then you may want to consider finding a courier like UPS or FedEx to send your goods. If you're sending an unaccompanied minor, try to book a nonstop flight (to avoid paying $25-$100 per connection). If you might need to change your flight time, learn the standby rules to avoid the $30-$100 ticket change fee. It's important to remember that, despite these optional fees, flight fares have remained relatively consistent since the nineties. Many airlines are struggling just to stay afloat, given the increasingly high fuel costs. So the next time you bring that overweight bag, consider how much more it's costing the airline carrier to fly it.
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