Check your wallet: The U.S. Department of Transportation reports it only took three months for airlines to rack up $1.38 billion in fees.
The fees fall into two catagories: checked baggage fees and reservation change fees.
BTS reports U.S. carriers collected $783,696,000 million worth of baggage fees this quarter, compared to $104,681,000 during the same time in 2007.
Topping this year's list was American Airlines, which earned $197,971,000 in baggage fees alone.
Reservation change fees cost travelers almost $600 million dollars this quarter, nearly $400 more than they paid in 2007. As a result of such fees, airlines are on pace to generate $5.5 billion this year, not including holiday travel spikes–a 300% increase from 2007.
Thankfully, the government is pissed about this practice too, and in July the Department of Transportation drafted a proposal requiring airlines to disclose more information on what fees are being collected and how they're going about it.
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