You might think that you can affordably plan your next tripafter a careful review of your cheaptravel options, including cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, discounttravel deals, and cheap vacation packages. However, before you buy an airline ticket youwould be wise to find out the cost of a carry-on, selecting your seat, apillow, and other former freebies.
The following are airline fees that would be travelerswould be wise to watch out for, according to Daniel Bortz:
Whilemost airlines continue to allow their passengers to bring one carry-on bag forfree, some do not. Whether you have topay for a carry-on bag usually depends on what type of ticket you purchased andthe size of the bag. It used to be thatonly ultra-low-cost airlines like Spirit and Allegiant charged their customersto carry-on bags. Now American Airlinesand United sell basic economy seats that charge passengers an extra $25 perfull sized carry-on bag defined as any luggage that requires overhead space.
Mostairlines charge a fee to cancel or change a reservation. These fees vary widely by airline. American imposes a $200 change fee on itsdomestic flights and up to $750 on international flights. Delta Air Lines charges a change fee of $200on domestic flights and up to $500 for international flights.
Mostairlines charge for reservations made over the phone or in person atairports. Phone booking fees range ashigh as $25 and in person booking fees at an airline terminal range as high as$35.
AlthoughJetBlue offers free high-speed Wi-Fi to all of its passengers, most airlinescharge for this service. Select airlinescharge a flat fee for the entire flight, while others charge an hourlyrate. Prices tend to vary whether it isa domestic or international flight.
Manyairlines charge their passengers a fee for selecting their seats inadvance. For example, Spirits seatassignment charge starts at $5, but increase for a premium window, aisle, orseat with additional legroom. Someairlines, including Lufthansa, allow its passenger to select seats free ofcharge 24 hours before departure. Thedownside is that the best seats may already have been selected by passengerswho agreed to pay more for advanced seating assignments.
Selectairlines have started charging for non-alcoholic beverages as well as foralcoholic drinks. Discount airlines suchas Frontier and Spirit charge for non-alcoholic beverages as well as forsnacks.
Someairlines charge passengers for pillows or blankets. For example, JetBlue charges $5 to $6 for apillow and blanket, while American Airlines charges $8.
Airlineshave even started charging their customers fees for redeeming frequent flyingmiles. This fee often depends on how andwhen a customer reserves a free ticket. Often, people have to pay a premium to reserve a flight with the help ofan airline agent. Select airlines alsocharge extra for reservations that are made within a set number of days beforea flight. American and United eachcharge $75 when a flight is reserved using airlines miles less than 21 days out. Spirit charges a $15 fee for ticketspurchased with miles more than 180 days prior to departure.
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