The Most Ridiculous Hidden Fees Airlines are Charging You

Airlines were among the last of the hospitality industries to unbundle their services and allow people to pay for what they use in a modular experience. This act could have had many positive effects on the industry and how people perceived it. However, the industry has taken steps a bit too far and started adding junk fees for “modular” experiences that are intrinsic to the flight experience. The Biden Administration has cracked down on junk fees in many sectors, including airlines. Let’s look at the different hidden fees discovered by probes into the sector’s practices.

To figure out what belonged on this list, we started by looking at accounts from flyers who were charged additional fees that they discovered when looking at their itemized bills. Then, we corroborated those fees with official sources, such as reputable news outlets and accounts from experts, to ensure that these fees were routinely charged to consumers. We also looked at information from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to see what they considered hidden fees and what they planned to do about it in accordance with White House guidance.

The category of baggage fees is wide-reaching and overarching, encompassing several different types of fees all related to the bags you check onto the plane. In the past, checking bags didn’t cost additional money. Once upon a time, it was a complimentary part of the flying experience. However, like most businesses in the U.S., the airline industry saw dollar signs and realized that people needed to check bags, and smaller, budget airlines had been charging small fees for checked bags. Still, the first large-scale, legacy airline to institute a fee for all checked bags was American Airlines in 2008. That’s right. It hasn’t even been two decades since this policy became normalized, yet many passengers often feel like it has been the norm since air travel first became widely available.

Baggage fees in airline travel come in many shapes and sizes. There are the initial baggage check fees, which may or may not increase with each subsequent checked bag. Airlines also charge overage fees for bags that are either too heavy or too large in dimensions, which are typically not disclosed by the airline unless a customer actually shows up with oversized bags.

While being one of the more reasonable additional charges in the book of hidden airline fees, the problem with seat selection fees isn’t that they’re unreasonable but that they don’t tell you that they’ll be charging them. Some airlines allow you to waive the fee and allow the airline to seat you wherever they have an open seat. However, doing this has a few downsides. One, you might not get a good seat. More importantly, though, if you end up on a flight that the airline overbooked, you might not get a seat at all.

Some airlines have been caught intentionally overbooking flights because they expect some ticketholders not to show up for the flight, causing booking issues for the people who booked tickets for the flight and did show up.

Who carries cash with them anymore? Even more than that, who has at least a hundred dollars in cash on them to pay for an airline ticket? Going even further than that, most people book their flights months in advance. Who is going to the airport to book their flight when they can do it online? If you’re going abroad, you’d have to carry over $1,000 in cash to book your flight to avoid these fees. Some airlines don’t even have an option to pay by cash in person! These aren’t a plastic fee; they’re just extra money that they don’t tell you have to pay until checkout, most of the time.

Another fee that airlines typically don't disclose and isn't refundable to the buyer is the change or cancellation fee. It would be understandable to apply a fee to the transaction when a ticketholder changes or cancels their ticket, especially on short notice. However, many times airlines apply these fees to all tickets whether the ticketholder changes or cancels or not. In some cases, you may see a charge for a secondary fee on the new ticket if you end up having to cancel or change your ticket. And that's on top of the initial cancellation fee that you paid on the first ticket.

Air service is certainly not cheap to render. Pilots are specially skilled individuals who the airline has to pay, and the flight attendants must also receive remuneration. The plane must be maintained by skilled mechanics, and the fuel for the flight must be purchased. Few people would disagree with a service fee for airline travel as long as the airline properly disclosed it and didn't hide it from them until the checkout stage! The service fee is one that most airlines now charge on top of their ticket fee and many times they won't even tell you that they're going to charge you for it. They'll just sneakily tack the additional fee onto your ticket price when you reach the checkout stage.

While it used to be free to carry bags onto the flight, allowing passengers who travel light to avoid checked bag fees, many airlines have changed their policies to charge a fee for carry-on bags as well. This fee is distinct from other baggage fees as it specifically covers only carry-ons, something that most guests consider complimentary even after baggage fees became popular. Carry-on bags already have so many rules and regulations about their sizes, weights, and what's in them, that it seems totally unreasonable to impose additional fees when airlines restrict them to such an extent. This one is especially insidious because it's a feature that every passenger uses.

Passengers might experience additional charges for booking a ticket using their credit card, but they might also end up with fees for booking over the phone instead of using an online portal or visiting in person. This is another fee that seems simply designed to fleece as much money from the consumer as humanly possible. If you book with a credit card or debit card over the phone, you might end up seeing charges for fees for both of these transgressions.

Lap-sitting infants used to fly for free, but these days, passengers may end up with a charge of 10% or more of the adult fare if they show up with an infant. A small, nominal fee for a lap-sitting infant might be reasonable as the infant is a passenger that the staff must consider and, while a small amount of weight, does change the overall weight of the plane, which can affect the flight mechanics. Realistically, anyone who adds extra weight to the plane should have to pay for that extra weight.

However, it’s entirely unethical not to disclose that you charge for infants upfront. Many parents don’t find out about the infant fee until they get to check-in! For what it’s worth, it’s also unethical not to disclose that a heavily overweight passenger would have to pay extra until they get there. If a condition would cause someone to need to pay extra, airlines need to disclose that prominently so they can plan ahead and book tickets in advance; these shouldn't be among the hidden fees!

The Biden Administration recently declared war on junk fees in many sectors, including airlines, hotels, and banks. They announced sweeping legislation aimed at providing passengers with a more equitable situation when traveling. They made it so that parents could sit with their children at no extra charge, airlines must now display certain fees prominently and include them in the overall ticket price before reaching the checkout screen, and airlines must provide accommodations and refunds when they severely delay or cancel a flight due to airline problems. These legislations provide a better overall experience for all passengers in all situations.