How about an on time fee? If the airline gets you there on time then everyone on the plane pays an extra $10 - $25. I think people may not be as annoyed by that. Still it would be like paying a restaurant a food preparing fee.

Aren't ALL airline fees annoying? Or are there some that people enjoy?

Perhaps this should be titled "Top 10 DUMBEST Airline Fees."

i almost booked a northwest flight over the phone yesterday until they told me there would be a $15 fee per ticket

@sir_pantsalot: Sure - as long as the airline pays the passengers when the flight isn't on time.

The Onion has a better version of the list.

[www.theonion.com]

@sir_pantsalot:
I would gladly pay an on-time fee.

Bottom line is it's going to cost a lot more to fly in the near future, and as a result, there will be less air traffic due to less demand. Less air traffic means fewer delays at busy airports, and an overall better flying experience.

hearing about all these fees, i have to ask whether people would prefer just being given a flat price that applies to everyone albeit that it will obviously be higher than what it is now...or to have all these extra fees that, if you are good, you can potentially avoid and keep your own costs down. I think i'd rather pay $800 over $500 knowing that's all I will have to spend rather than get dinged $75 here, $80 there and just end up at the same point.

Pretty soon flying will only be for the rich.

I nominate AirTran's warped business-class upgrade fees. They claim to charge different fees on different routes, between $40-$80 per person per leg, but as I recently discovered, they'll hike that fee if your return flight gets cancelled and you dare to display a need to return home that day. Want to go home? Fine, pay us $60 each. We were charging $40 on your way down? Tough. Pay up.

Here I thought all fees were equally annoying...

I wince when I think about flying anywhere. So I don't.

@LoSpaz: I think you may be somewhat confused with two options: The Business Class upgrade is only for confirmed passengers on that flight. If your flight was cancelled and you wish to have a CONFIRMED seat on a different flight, you will have to pay more... You could go as a stand-by passenger for free, but if you want a confirmed seat you've got to pay. Fair, in my opinion...

I think people traveling with babies or pets should pay the surcharge to everyone sitting adjacent to them, personally.

I bet they will start putting tip jars at the check-in counter and the jetway before you board the plane too.

Though it does not amaze me that they apply these fees it is not suprising. the bottom line is that it costs more to fly the aircraft from point A to point B due to the rise in fuel costs. Period They refuse to do the upfront thing and just make the tickets more expensive to the tune of the fees and drop the fees. those are hidden costs that get you in the door and have you as a more or less captive audiance.
Yeah flying is now for the rich and corporate travelers and that will require some adjustments in how we travel long distances and the technologies that drive that travel.
LTA craft? Sail ships? Solar powered? It is the Fuel costs and Our relying on foreign sources that are at the core to this and as soon as we start making significant and radical changes to that we will always have this kind of problem.

My last sentance makes no sense replace soon with until

#4 is wrong...I just booked a ticket through Continental using frequent flyer miles last night, with no fees. And I only provided 15 days notice.

And it was all done online...hense no phone booking fees.

@DeltaPurser: Nope, they offered me a confirmed, free coach seat on a later flight, but said if I wanted the next flight out, I'd have to pay for the business-class upgrade.

@LoSpaz: "Free" being that I did not have to pay to be rebooked on that flight, not that they refunded my ticket.

I just think it is insulting to have American Airlines say that they are charging customers for the services they want. Really!??! I don't WANT you to put my luggage under the plane I WANT to carry it on so I know you won't lose it. You force me to check it and now I have to pay for that? How about you just include the price in my ticket and not tell me about it...that way I am none the wiser and just disgruntled about the hike in fees. Ugh...or better yet, how about you pay me every time you lose my luggage? A person could get rich quick that way. :c)

All (or nearly all) of the cost increases are a result of fuel price increases, yes? So why the hell are umpteen different fees being used to cover these costs instead of simply applying a fuel surcharge that represents the actual fuel cost increase?

The only answer is that they are willfully trying to obfuscate the true cost for some reason. My guess is that they don't want people to plan trips based on fuel costs. If people held off travel during "expensive fuel" periods then there could be a precipitous drop in passengers those weeks and the airlines would be hard-pressed to maintain a steady income. While in and of itself that's not a bad goal for any business, achieving that goal through essentially hoodwinking your customers on actual costs is the WRONG way to go about it.

Someone in another discussion suggested it may be time for each passenger to step on a scale with all their bags and pay by the pound. It's not a terrible idea really, weight translates directly to fuel requirements for flights. Why should all my miscellaneous fees be subsidizing people who over-pack or are significantly obese? This would be the only fee added to the ticket price and would essentially be a tailor-fit fuel surcharge with traceability to actual fuel costs for that period. [sigh] It'll never happen though, way too sensible and transparent to the customer.

And for the privacy people complaining about everyone in line seeing your weight, this is a minor issue and could be avoided through any number of simple strategies like not making the display visible to everyone around.

I have a not-on-Southwest-annoyance fee of 100% of the airfare. Southwest has it figured out. Why can't the rest do what Southwest does, then start making a profit, and stop screwing the public?

It's getting so bad I had to pay a fee to get my shoes back after going through security!

The main problem is that Americans are just cheap bastards. We bemoan why manufacturing is going overseas. We whine when we can't get the coolest cellphones available overseas. Most other countries realize that to get A you have to pay X amount. There isn't a need to nickel and dime the consumer because they have a firm grasp on reality and how much things should cost.

The only thing more annoying that airline fees is these fucking awful Forbes slideshows. Wait, did I say slideshows? I meant fluff shows meant to get you to look at 11 pages of ads. Fuck Forbes.

@satoru:

Cheap American Bastards invented or significantly improved:
- Air travel/The airplane
- The Automobile
- The Internet
- Telegraphs/Telephones

So you can go to wherever you're from and suck it.

Seriously though, I'd also rather have a flat price with all the fees rolled up into it. That way customers could compare apples to apples on price, and decide if paying more for Continental because they provide better service and meals is worth it, for example.

@farker: I'm not sure how you go from noting that America has provided significant innovation over the past century, to an ad hominem attack on me. I'm just pointing out that the general mentality of American consumers is to get everything as cheap as possible. It's that mentality that forces airlines to force hidden fees on consumers, rather than rolling the pricing up front. Sticker shock for American consumers is exceedingly high. They would rather pay an low cost up front and pay more fees later, than pay a higher up front cost, but an overall lower cost.

Cellphones are in a similar boat. Manufacturers of cellphones for the North American market can't be bothered to create innovative phones because without lots of subsidies, no one will buy them. They lose significant amount of money on the phones so they have to make them as cheap as possible, since that's what the carriers want as well. Hopefully the iPhone will pave the way for higher quality cellphones here, as it seems to have dawned on people that you can get something decent if ou pay for it.

@Buran:

Southwest succeeds for many reasons, but the main and relevant one now is the fact that it had the foresight to hedge its fuel purchases well into the next five years or so. Hence, SW is paying FAR less for fuel than virtually all of its competitors.

@jtheletter:

It's been brought up countless times in these airline articles, but the fact is that pay by weight will never see the light of day. Think lawsuits for those with glandular problems, 'unfair' scales, and ACLU.

@satoru: Well, as for the cellphones, they're usually available for free or nearly free. And in the case of Japan you actually get an incentive for signing that two-year contract- you get 50% off your monthly service plan fees.

@farker:

Consumers still CAN compare apples to apples. Figure out which services that you need and then pay for them, if necessary. Just because consumers have gotten used to a certain package of services doesn't mean that they can't be separated. All these fees are perfectly transparent, except for the last two, which are ALWAYS included in the price of a base ticket (that is, at the point of purchase, not added at the gate).

I'm glad you guys are giving this list more coverage. These fees are almost as underhanded as you can legally get in this situation.

The pet fee should have been #1 or at least #2. I've got a 9 pound dog and I fly with him a lot and I bring him on the plane. I pay between 60 and 100 so I can give up foot room (I already paid for) so I can squish my pet there. I can see paying extra if he had his own area or was under the plane, but I've already paid for that location.

On a side note you can easily sneak you pet onto USair, the only time they check is when you get your boarding pass. After that they just assume you've already paid.

A friend was flying into LAX from Portland yesterday. Her flight on Alaska got sent back to Portland 30 minutes in and the plane evacuated. Alaska put her on a United flight. Alaska said they would send her 1 bag onto LAX on a later Alaska flight, but United wouldn't let her board without luggage because it is "against the FAA rules" to fly without baggage. United insisted she retrieve her bag from Alaska Air and check it with United. So she walks around the airport to Alaska Air baggage claim desk, signs a few release forms (Alaska also insisted they would handle the baggage, but relented), rushes over to the United check-in counter with her bag. "There is a $25 fee per bag, ma'am!" GOTCHA! They just wanted her baggage fee!

Thankfully, she called Alaska and they were so appalled that United charged their re-routed passengers a baggage fee they agreed to reimburse each passenger.

I am a pilot for a major U.S. airline.

I am also a consumer and just like the rest of you,
I try to find the lowest price when I buy most things.

I certainty understand the frustrations with all of these fees,
but the reality is that the airlines are in a very precarious
situation due to the unprecedented soaring cost of jet fuel.

It would be unthinkable for most businesses to charge less than
what it costs them to provide their products or services, but airlines
are forced to do this because passengers are very price sensitive.

If the airlines simply charged enough to cover the increased cost of fuel,
it would be too expensive for most people to fly and they would simply
make other plans or fly less often.

This forces the airlines to try to recoup some of these losses through fees.

The reality is simply this; either the airlines find a way to generate revenue
or they will go out of business. You might say, "well fine, that's the way
capitalism is supposed to work" and I would agree with you except that
the air transportation system is an incredibly complex operation and if
several major airlines went belly up, no one would be going anywhere soon.

I believe that because of the unique situation airlines operate in, the government
should re-regulate the industry to some degree. Certainty not like it was before
deregulation in the 1970's, but with some level of intervention that would ensure
the air transportation system continues uninterrupted.

The airline business is an incredibly capital intensive business. The cash flow
the airlines need just to run a normal schedule is insane. They must do whatever
is necessary to survive and fees are a small part of this. Soon all of the airlines
are going to cut their schedules to try and save money. Less flying means less
fuel burned and money saved. It also means that their will be fewer seats
available and that translates into higher fares through supply and demand.

I know most of this will fall on deaf ears because most people take air travel
for granted. But you should try to take into consideration everything that goes
into making it possible for you to fly from A to B safely.

There is an old airline joke:
Do you know how to get a million dollars?
Start with 10 million and go into the airline business.

I wouldn't mind the extra fees if overall service was improving. But flying has become such a hassle that I really can't stand the thought of paying MORE for the privilege of standing in lines, being treated like crap by ticket agents and the TSA, sitting at the gate for 2 hours (because I'm an on time kinda guy) only to have you flight delayed 15 minutes then 30, then cancelled, being directed (with everyone else on the flight) to an understaffed customer service desk for reschedule where I'm once again treated like I'm "getting over" on the airline, ad nauseum. If you could GUARANTEE that my bags wouldn't get lost, I'd pay 15 bucks. But if my bags get lost, and statistically it could, I have the ass.

hate to differ with you all, but I would rather have fees that I can avoid, than ticket price increases that I cannot.

The biggest travesty of them all is the curbside check-in fee. I know I usually tipped 2-3 bucks before the fee. With the introduction of the flat fee, their tips have dwindled dramatically.

@farker: That's kind of silly. The inventions are, save one, a century old, and the internet was created by combination of military needs and politicians with crazyawesome foresight, which is to say, modern day Americans had fuck all to do with it.

And keep in mind that air travel as form of mass transport in the US is only viable because of the dirt cheap fuel. Meanwhile, European carriers have found ways to make air travel cheap and efficient without the benefit of the dirt cheap fuel.

And look at everything where choices in the States lag behind other industrialized nations because either the people are unwilling to make a significant investment for the greater and long-term good, or the market players engage in excessive price wars and fail to reinvest in R&D or infrastructure. Broadband home internet, mass transit, intercity rail, healthcare - that stuff in this country is practically third world.

@spinachdip: I'm actually pretty new to flying, myself, so all of this still seems like a shock. I'm also considering a trip to Europe (Germany, specifically), in the next year or so- how are European airlines better? How can they pull it off?

They're not sarcastic questions, I'm genuinely curious. I'd love to know :/

@DoktorGoku: Re-reading my comment, I did a pretty bad job explaining the European airlines. I don't know if air travel is better in Europe in any quantifiable way, but I do think travelers have better array of choices, since the discount airlines are more viable.

The "national" airlines like Air France and Alitalia are still expensive, but the discount airlines like Easyjet and Ryan Air can be dirt cheap, cheaper than rail in most cases. They're not perfect - they generally serve secondary airports, there's no reserved seating, connections are spotty and charging for checked bags is common - but it's a much more competitive landscape and I for one would be willing to live with the caveats for the fares they charge.

I'm surprised the non-Southwest airlines haven't started charging for air.

"You want to breathe OUR air while onboard? That'll be another $500. Ah, so you brought a SCUBA tank... but that puts you over the weight limit, so we'll have to charge you another $350."

Actually, on a recent trip to Maryland, Southwest got us for $25 for having a bag 8lbs over their 50lb limit. Since they were 30 minutes late showing up, I've already emailed them asking for some sort of reimbursement, be it SW drink tickets or whatever.

I wish Southwest will allow pets in their cabin/cargo. Otherwise, next year, I will be in surcharge airline hell because of my dog.

Speaking of Southwest, very funny commerical I just watched when the flight attendent was announcing all its fees.

@basket548: Then the rest should do the same and stop screwing us over.

1. Checked Baggage: $10-$100:
Second bag? Okay. First bag? No, sorry, even if I'm not planning on checking anything, on the chance that I might check something on the way back, I'd choose another carrier over one with a first-bag-fee, all else being equal.

2. Talking to Real People: $10-$25:
Fine with me, AS LONG AS I CAN DO IT ON THE WEBSITE. That was meant for you, Delta. I'm not happy paying a $25 phone booking fee because your broken website doesn't let me book nearly the variety of mileage tickets that your phone reps can. Yet you let me check three 70 lb bags for free on a regular deep-discount economy ticket since I have status with you? I'd rather you waive stupid phone booking fees when there's no other way to book stuff.

3. Seat Preference: $10-$20:
Fair enough. I believe all the majors give this as a free benefit to elite members anyways; most of those "good" seats were blocked off as such beforehand in the past, it's just now that they let you pay to pick them ahead of time instead of possibly getting them at the airport if nobody else has taken them.

4. Rewards Redemption: $75-$100:
Not too unreasonable. You (generally) pay more for last-minute revenue tickets, why not for last-minute award tickets? Again, this one has been around for quite some time. $100 is pushing it though. Some airlines do something like $50 for 15-21 days out and $75 for 0-14 days out, which seems more reasonable.

5. Curbside Check-In: $2-$3+:
Completely retarded. Bring your bags inside and check them there. If you're disabled, this should be a free service, perhaps mandatory at major airports. This "fee", as others have noted, hurts the curbside check-in folks more than it hurts the traveler. People who used to tip $2-$3 in the past to the curbside agent are now paying the airline $2-$3 instead and not tipping, the vast majority of them not realizing that their "fee" is not a tip and does not go to the person who is bringing the bags in.

6. Traveling with a Child or a Pet: $10-$100 and up:
This isn't too bad. $100 to get your kid from one part of the world to another safely? Seems reasonable. Note that it says "Traveling with a Child", where it should more accurately say "A child traveling alone." As to the person who thinks it's unfair that he/she has to pay extra to put his/her dog under the seat in front, I demand that you pay me $100 per flight segment for the sneezing endured, tissues used, and mental anguish that your dog will inflict due to my allergies.

7. Changing a Reservation: $30-$200:
$150 domestic? Wow. Going past $100 will certainly make me consider another carrier if that option makes sense. I'm willing to pay a bit more for a change fee on a non-refundable international ticket.

8. Paper Ticket: $50-$70:
So? Why would you want a paper ticket? I don't want a paper ticket. It's easier to lose. You're more screwed if it does get lost. I have heard of people having very occasional problems with e-tickets; however, I have heard of FAR more people having problems with their paper tickets, even if everything there is in order. I had a 22 segment itinerary on a single PNR (round-the-world trip) a couple years ago, which HAD to be paper ticketed. (Delta, amazingly enough, didn't charge me since it was their fault it had to be on paper.) The first change and reissue I made, which of course had to be in person, took 3 hours. The next time I had it changed and reissued, I'd dropped down to the 16 segment max for e-tickets so they converted it to one pretty easily; I was quite happy not to be lugging around that giant paper ticket anymore.

9. Airport improvement: $4.50-$20+:
I assume this is the PFC (Passenger Facility Charge.) This is not very well described. It can be up to $4.50; however, any airport wishing to charge more than $3 has to meet special requirements. So it's more like $0 - ($4.50 * the number of airports you transit through), at least domestically. I believe "direct" flights (what a misnomer) do not incur a PFC at the intermediary airport(s).

10. Fuel Surcharge: $30-$300:
This is pretty much always included in the displayed ticket price through any airline website or 3rd party travel website. Fuel surcharges DO have to go up for obvious reasons. I prefer that the surcharge is indeed shown separately (usually the "YQ" tax) so I can more accurately compare ticket prices between carriers.

@ceejeemcbeegee: Against FAA rules to fly without baggage? Where's that crime stoppers tip line. I got a whole city full of business executives I need to turn in (For a handsome reward, of course)

Reading over the fare rules for a US Airways flight I'm on in a couple days, seems they've gone up to a $150 change fee as well. And I thought it was bad when Delta went back up to $100 recently since dropping to $50 a couple years ago... At least nobody else has implemented Delta's soon-to-come 25k/40k/60k SkyGouger award redemptions for domestic coach; all others seem to be sticking with 25k/50k for now. That's right, on the right dates, you'll be able to fly "first" class on Delta for 45k vs coach for 60k.

I used 60k DL miles to fly BOS-MGA round-trip in January in first class on CO. "SkySaver" awards were only available in first class, even though I'd prefer to fly coach on flights that short; but to fly in coach instead on the EXACT SAME dates would have cost me 70k instead. Yes, I understand capacity controls and all of that; perhaps coach was overbooked and F was looking wide open, so CO decided to offer up those seats in F that might otherwise go empty. Still seems stupid to me. Especially when the back of all of those BOS-IAH-MGA-IAH-BOS flights looked moderately empty.

I predict that all airline tickets will at least quadruple in price within the next five years.

Any takers?

@ConsumptionJunkie: Flying started off as being for the wealthy. Life was rather good back then, same with modern airlines prior to deregulation.

@jtheletter: I absolutely agree! Bring out the scales! I'm only 134 lbs. Why can't I bring on extra luggage to compensate for how much less it costs to transport my scrawny ass compared to the fat-ass sitting next to me (whose stomach ends up rolling over the armrest and into my lap). OR maybe a discount for us skinnies? Do a marketing tie-in with weight-watchers and maybe give discounts for people with weight-watchers memberships & people who are already at a normal or below normal BMI. Given the current health state of Americans, this would cost less per flight than peanuts for the flight.

@OttavioClaw: While I agree that gov't regulation may be a possible solution, I think the airlines have dug their own grave on this one. They've somehow decided to make a race for the bottom in terms of price and service. Airfare wars left & right for the past few years. Well, the party's over. Airlines need to just raise their ticket prices (and give some actual service) and stop bellyaching they're not making money. Increasing fuel costs have affected ALL Americans, yet most people have made adjustments to compensate.

People are ALREADY taking flights less often, but not due to high costs. Instead, they're avoiding flying because they're disgusted with how they're treated by the airlines. Great study released by the Travel Industry Association today: [www.tia.org] (PDF). 50% of frequent flyers (they call 5 or more trips/year a frequent flyer) are "dissatisfied" with air travel. I'd love to see the results of people who travel once a month or more. 41% of this frequent flyer group said they had avoided a trip involving air travel last year because of the hassle/problems with the current system. And that's before price increases.

I have several friends who work for various airlines and have seen some of the airlines' accounting #'s. I know that profit margins are terribly thin on many flights, with some flights even being a loss. Do the smart thing. Raise your damn fares to a level that is sustainable for you, ditch the bullshit fees and don't worry about the rest of the airlines trying to undercut you. Provide a solid, quality product (read: GOOD SERVICE, ON-TIME flights) and you will build a loyal following. Eventually the other airlines will follow suit and raise their rates accordingly or will find themselves up the creek soon enough.

Also, get some experienced financial people in the corporate offices. Why should Southwest being the only airline who smartly locked in fuel prices at ~$50/barrel? They're sitting pretty now because of it. In the meantime, the other airlines (esp. the legacy airlines) are choking on it.