U.S. Airlines Making Billions On Fees

Above, those fees U.S. airlines are charging are raking in billions. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This is certainly not going to make you happy (unless, of course, you are a shareholder in airline stocks).

Those fees for baggage and reservation changes have been going into the pockets of U.S. air carriers by the billions of dollars.

According to Japan Today:

U.S. airlines are earning billions, and they are collecting more in fees on checked bags and reservation changes. 

Whether airlines are making more or less profit than before depends on which figures you use. 

The Department of Transportation said that airlines collected $3.5 billion in bag fees last year, a 5 percent increase over 2013, and $3 billion in reservation-change fees, a 6 percent hike. 

Fees began escalating in 2008, when airlines were losing money and facing a sharp rise in fuel prices. Today, they make up a growing share of airline revenue.

The way to avoid baggage fees is to limit one checked-in piece of luggage per person and keep its weight low.

To read more, go here.