I'm old enough to remember when airline pricing was pretty straight-forward: You bought your ticket and the price you paid included everything — drinks, food, hell, even a pillow and blanket. Now you're going for your wallet so often it's like you're already at DisneyWorld before you even get there.
The phrase, “There's no such thing as a free lunch,” now applies to airline travel, too. Because in addition to not having free lunches, there's also no such thing as free blankets, booking by phone, priority booking, ticket change fees, or anything else.
The commercial airline industry's new “nickel-and-dime” approach to pricing means you never really know how much your flight is going to cost until you touch down at your destination.
So how do you figure out how much that low priced airline ticket is really going to set you back? Refer to SmarterTravel's “Ultimate guide to airline fees.” It gives you the depressing breakdown.
