I don’t fly regularly and I haven’t booked an international flight in decades, so a USA Today article on increased airline fees really caught me by surprise both in their number and in their cost.

Let’s start small; booking a frequent flyer flight via telephone incurs a $25 to $100 charge, depending on the airline. Booking such a flight to Hawaii on the web will set you back $50 if you’re flying US Airways. The bigger charges come with changing your reservation on an international flight or in checking baggage; an overweight bag on an international flight costs $450 on American Airlines, $400 on United. According to the USA Today survey, changing an international flight is $400 on some Delta flights. According to the article, "15 U.S. airlines reported revenues of $2.6 billion from baggage fees and $2.1 billion from reservation-change fees during the first three quarters last year.” That’s just in the first three quarters of the year. A spokeswoman for the airline industry said the airlines would have lost money without the extra fees.

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