Will airline fees go up?

With the new round of profitablilty after a few years of losses, airlines are looking for new ways to tack on fees. It was the extra fees that brought the profit.

According to the Tampa Tribune, some of these fees will be new to North America, although already practiced in other parts of the world, and some would become more widespread.

Examples are fees for:

—paying with a credit card

—for making a reservation over the Internet

—for not using the Internet or a kiosk to get a seat assignment

—on checked bags but by the pound (something one baggers need not worry about)

—to assign tickets to another passenger

—for carry on luggage (can I have a big “boo” on this one)

—for infants not holding a ticket

—to lock in a fare (already started on Continental)

It seems the airlines are trying their best not to raise fares which gets more complaints than extra added fees.

If you want to read the entire article, here’s the link:

Tampa Tribune

(Frank II)

Comments

[Paul Z]

Gotta love it...fees for using the internet, fees for NOT using the internet. Fees for paying by credit card, being placed on a no-fly list if you pay cash. Fees for checked bags, fees for carry-on bags. You really can't make this stuff up.

[Paula S]

Fret not, the fee for "not carrying any bags at all" will show up one of these days. ;-)