United Airlines announced today that they are raising their ticket change fee to $150—up from $100, “in an effort to combat high fuel costs.”

The airline also added a Saturday night stay requirement “on all tickets where it competes head-to-head with other legacy carriers,” according to a statement emailed to USAToday.

“In an environment where fuel prices are averaging almost $120 a barrel, we are facing a cost increase of more than $2 billion this year and that is more than twice the operating earnings we generated last year,” the spokeswoman said in the statement Sunday.

“Making these changes is another example of how we need to continue to adapt to today’s tough market realities and find new ways to generate revenue.”

United: Changing your ticket will now cost $150 [Reuters]
(Photo:Ben Popken)

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