Website Compares US Airline Fees, Features

Eye-opening fee comparison helps budget-conscious travelers plan their flights

Rick Seaney's incredibly useful, majorly consumer-oriented website, FareCompare, recently did all air travelers a great big time-saving favor with a chart comparing add-on fees levied by 16 domestic airlines. He documented the fee for talking to a real human being to make a reservation (free to $20 per person), checked bags (free to $15 for the first checked bag; free to $25 for the second), charge for preferred seating including extra leg room (not offered to $109); snack packet (free or not offered); beverage (free to $4 for selected non-alcoholic beverages), meals none or free to $11), alcoholic beverages ($1 to $6), oversize bag fee ($29 to $360), overweight bag fee ($29 to $150), pets ($35 to $359, or not permitted), unaccompanied minor (free, or $35 to $100), curbside check-in (free to $3) and change fee for non-refundable tickets (free to $150). Seany includes asterisked conditions, so you can really figure out how much you'll be paying for such "extras," many of which were once not extras at all.

Sometimes, travelers don't have much of a choice or airlines, and other times, they do, and this chart will help separate more customer-friendly carriers from those that are less so. Thanks, Rick.