When searching the top online travel sources for saving money, most travelers concentrate on the base fare of the ticket when choosing a flight deal. In recent years, the moderately low increase in base fare combined with the almost tripled price for fuel has left many travel industry giants scrambling to find a way to fill seats without assaulting profit margins. Their answer: ridiculous airline fees.
With so many unnecessary rules and ridiculous fees for flying, more and more large airlines are finding themselves among the ranks of companies with awful customer service for the refusal to waive flight charges or disclose hidden fees when flying. Among the more ridiculous fees charged by airlines are added costs to check bags, charges for unaccompanied minors, and huge costs for taking a pet on board. Some fees can often be avoided by making different arrangements (while others are actually being offered as services to benefit fliers), there are other hidden airline charges like fees for carry on luggage, charges for in-flight entertainment, and even a fee to use the toilet on shorter flights. These stupid airline fees are what make flying nearly unbearable.
What are the craziest airline fees? What are the hidden costs of traveling? What are the dumbest airline fees? Some travelers have come to accept costs for checking baggage and paying for a meal on board, but there are plenty of other ridiculous airline fees that can be avoided (and should never be charged, for that matter). Take a minute to upvote the worst airline fees here on this list of weirdest airline fees so you and other fliers can get the word to airlines that these crazy fees to fly are just too much.
list ordered by
1
131 109
Carry-On Bags Some airlines, like Spirit, charge up to $80 for a carry-on bag
2
103 91
Use Credit Card for Booking Many airlines will charge a flat fee or percentage of the ticket cost to use a credit card for purchase
3
95 85
Alcoholic Beverages Even on international flights, many airlines (like American) will only offer beer & wine free of charge (if at all)
4
79 69
Priority Boarding Southwest charges $40 to cut to the front of the line when boarding
5
114 119
Use the Toilet RyanAir is moving forward with plans to charge up to $1.70 to use the bathroom on flights less than an hour long
6
72 70
Empty Middle Seat For a fee you can ensure the middle seat of your row is left vacant
7
71 80
In-Cabin Pets A $250 fee is common (Delta, United, US Airways) with some like Hawaiian charging $350 to carry a pet onboard
8
80 98
Checked Baggage Standard size baggage can run you up to $50 each way on the likes of Allegiant Air
9
80 103
Pillows and Blankets On Virgin America, expect to pay $10 for this bit of comfort
10
69 94
Wi-Fi A seemingly great way to kill time will also run you as much as $14 for the day (without the ability to stream video)
11
63 86
Booking Through a Representative Direct ticketing could cost you as much as $35 extra if you need to book through a representative
12
59 82
Video Games Access to seat back games will run you $5 plus
13
62 91
Print Boarding Pass at Airport If you fail to print a boarding pass at home, RyanAir will charge you over $110 per pass printed at the airport
14
54 81
Headphones Expect to pay at least $2 if you forget your headphones at home (or if the aircraft uses the old 2-prong outlet)
15
55 85
Change Name On Ticket RyanAir will charge you as much as $260 just to change the name on your ticket
16
54 85
Change Flight Prepare to pay a flat change fee of up to $450 on carriers like Delta as well as any changes in price for the ticket
17
52 84
Unaccompanied Minor Sending a minor on a flight by themselves may carry a fee of up to $150 each way on the likes of United
18
47 79
Snacks Honey roasted peanuts have become a luxury with the cost of some snack boxes running into double digits
19
40 70
Baggage Delivery US Airways offers bag delivery from $29.95 per bag
20
45 81
Movies Expect to pay about $6-8 per movie for newer flicks
21
44 80
TV Episodes $1 per episode ($2 for HBO) is pretty standard in the economy cabin
22
43 83
Check in Online Many tickets come with a built-in fee to check in online
23
44 89
Check in at Airport More common outside of the US, carriers like RyanAir and airBaltic impose fees in excess of $13 to check in at the airport
24
41 88
Infant Fee Carrying an infant under the age of 2 could run you up to $50 each way on budget airlines like RyanAir
