Guide To Hidden Airline Fees

These days, it'll cost you! Here’s what to expect on 14 major carriers

Planning to attend your annual family reunion in Chicago, you spend hours searching online for the best available plane fare. Finally, success: on a discount-booking site you find a round-trip ticket on US Airways for less than $180. Done deal.

At the airport, though, you discover that checking your two suitcases (one heavy with presents for family members) will set you back $50. Then, on the plane, a flight attendant informs you that a pillow and blanket will cost you another $7. Headphones to screen out the crying baby in the next row: $5. Same price for a can of beer to help you take the edge off. By the time you’ve reached your destination, your wallet’s lighter by about $70—almost half the price of your original ticket.

The extra fees that airlines now charge passengers—for everything from in-flight snacks to choosing a window or aisle seat—can accrue alarmingly fast. And when you can easily find yourself bumped from an overbooked flight, or sitting inexplicably on the tarmac for hours without taking off, they can seem like insult added to injury.

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