Fast Company
Airlines are piling on fees for checked bags, assigned seats, and other extras. Here’s how their websites pressure fliers into paying for them. It’s not your imagination: Airlines are piling on more fees and extra charges, driving up the cost of air travel. Across the industry, revenue from what’s known as ancillary sales—fees for selecting seats, checking bags, and buying food, to name a few—will reach a record $117.9 billion in 2023. That’s a 7.7% increase from pre-pandemic records, according to a recent study from airline consultancy firm IdeaWorks and B2B car rental company CarTrawler.
