Frequent Flyer Fees: The Ultimate Guide

Archived Comments:

• XAN - August 5, 2008

  THIS has been so confusing to plan a trip with all these extra charges & rates . Can not use miles for better seat or any thing else.

• travelertoo - August 6, 2008

  When do you thihk they'll start charging to use the restroom???

• Digusted - August 7, 2008

  So much for having been loyal for all these years to our carriers. They do not deserve us to be loyal any more. We have saved up over 1 or 2 years to get a flt. to a desirable value destination and now they will charge us another 15000 miles as a "thank You"1 Damn them all. May they go bust! We have EARNED the miles. it was NEVER a gift! Now an aisle seat cost $10. if noone chooses any seats, if they want to fill the plane they will have to seat people on an isle or window in any case or gop empty. What fleece is that? Peaople do not choose anything in advance and you may get there in any case. Boycott the high charges. That will cost them in the end more than they would have made on these creative FEES!

• lola suarez - August 7, 2008

  i want cheap trip

• incorrigible - August 8, 2008

  If U have to take a pill and need water, now U have to pay $2 to take your pills! The next $$$$ is charging for carry on bags. Why don't they just raise their fares and go back to square one when flying was enjoyable?

• Fed Up and Done! - August 19, 2008

  I, for one, am THROUGH with my mileage plans. I have had one for every airline that I frequently travel with. I have always been offended that the airlines treat me like a second-class citizen when using my miles. Hey, I paid a MINIMUM of $25,000.00 (on my Visa) to earn just one domestic ticket! Not to mention the miles that I have flown to earn mileage. With all these extra charges, they can take their frequent flier programs and go down with the "sinking ship" as far as I am concerned.

• BiscayneSalt - August 22, 2008

  Some of these fees are just ways to extract more $$ from us without any further cost to the airline. The upgrade fee from American, where I have been a gold or platinum traveler for 20 years and 1 million miles is the last straw. I'm gone!

• SWA flyer - October 9, 2008

  Southwest is the only airline out there that actually treats the passengers like family. Even today, they still rank the highest in Customer Service. They also have a genuine desire to offer low fares to the public even though they are forced to raise prices to pay for fuel like everyone else. If you want to be loyal to someone, Southwest is the way to go.

• Josh - December 30, 2008

  Don't forget the "Foreign Origin Surcharge" that Delta charges. Makes their miles all but worthless for people living outside the USA. Example: Copenhagen to Miami: 75k miles + circa $500 in fees.

• Ticked off - January 19, 2009

  Today Spirit was offering a $35 off per ticket special. I grabbed it as I have been watching fares for a trip to Cancun. BUT...after I purchased the ticket for my 'good deal', it came to the screen for seat assignments. Imagine my surprise when every seat on the plane has an additional charge! I couldn't go back because it had already charged my card for the tickets themselves; I had no choice but to pay more for a seat assignment!!! I would have come out cheaper if I had just flown American or Northwest where I wouldn't have had to pay extra to have a seat...I think this is a rip off and I wouldn't have flown Spirit had I known. I guess that's how they 'reel' you in; I won't fall for Spirit's sale fares in the future!!!

• moonieman1 - January 20, 2009

  I also agree with the person on here who said,"what next,will they be charging us to use the bathroom,"and I also fly Spitit airlines and they have some great deals on there like when I flew to Ft Lauradale in December and I got the round trip fares for 2 for $76.00 but after they chearged me $15.00 a bag and we bought i each that added another $60.00 to the ticket and they also charged us $19.00 for 2 seats each way which bought the total plane fare to $174.00 which in its self is a good price for 2 to fly but the $76.00 is only a teaser rate just to get you to use your credit card then here comes all of the add ons,come on you airlines just charge us the real fees in the first place and don`t play games with us ,we all know were going to get stuck with the real bill if we want to fly so at least so treat us like we have a mind and stop all of the fare games please

• tectours - February 16, 2009

  The airlines (except SWA) are NO one's friends! Going way back when they, the airlines, all banded together and quit paying commissions to travel agents. If agents had banded together THEN it might have turned out differently. Then came 9 11. A very fortuitous timing event for the airlines. They, the airlines, had been spending enormous sums of money on their web sites (can we say Orbitz?) in order to cut their own staff. But thanks to the terrorists the airlines got bail out money. Did that help anyone but the airline execs? Nope... Now the airlines are you know whating the passengers with all of these fees. And, sadly, the passengers will let it happen. If everyone would just say forget this garbage and refuse to pay for an advance seat etc. the airlines would have to back off. Support the few that are still trying to be in the business of customer service as well as transportation. Southwest, Virgin America and Alaska...you can still take a free bag and not pay for a seat assignment. Delta, American, Continental, United....these 'big boys' need to be brought DOWN, not propped UP!

• bzbrbn - March 28, 2009

  How can I know, on one document, mileage award miles needed for each f.f. program? I don't want to go to each website to see who has the least amount of miles needed for my destination. Thanks

• bzbrbn - March 28, 2009

  Just did college visits, multiple cities, multiple airlines and did one way tickets. How do you do "multiple cities and airlines w/o using a travel agent? An agent said it could be done but difficult even for them. Thank you

• miffdb - October 20, 2009

  US Airways now charges $300 plus miles to upgrade on US to Europe flights. I think this is outrageous! (and it is not listed in your PDF chart)

• Jaclyn Liechti, SmarterTravel - October 30, 2009

  miffdb - We just updated our chart this week. The new charges are listed. Thanks for your help!