Fee-quent Flyer

By Rebecca Winters Sunday, Oct. 20, 2002
    • Expect to feel squeezed on your next flight — and not just because of the legroom. Desperate for cash, airlines are nickel-and-diming flyers every chance they get. Many carriers this month put in place tough new rules on nonrefundable tickets. Now if you wait until your day of travel to change a flight, you will have to fly standby; after Jan. 1 on some airlines, even standby will cost an extra $100. And if you miss your flight and fail to reschedule that day, you will be charged for a new ticket. There is, however, one upside. Some airlines are offering cheaper upgrades to first class, as low as $40.

    PAPER TICKETS
    A printed ticket helps you hop to another airline quickly if yourflight is canceled, but now the privilege costs up to $25.

    EXTRA BAGGAGE
    Ticket agents used to turn ablind eye tooversize orexcess luggage. Now they charge for it, up to $80 for each offense.

    LARGE TRAVELERS
    Many carriers are forcing overweight flyers who need more room to pay for an extra seat, often at a discount or child's fare.

    TRAVELING MINORS
    The escort fee for an unaccompanied child is creeping up. Plan to pay as much as $75 for connecting flights on some airlines.

    IN-FLIGHT MEALS
    Some airlines are talking about charging for meals. So far, they're just serving less, sometimes replacing hot food with bags of pretzels.