Airline Fees, Billion | featured news

If the sting of paying to board early, check a bag or enjoy a few extra inches of legroom has gotten a bit sharper lately, you’re not alone. According to a new report, the world’s airlines will earn an estimated $36.1 billion in ancillary revenues this year.

A $10 priority-boarding fee here, a $25 checked-bag fee there; pretty soon, you’re talking real money. $22.6 billion, in fact. According to the annual Amadeus Review of Ancillary Revenue Results released Monday, that’s how much ancillary revenue 50 airlines around the world reported making in 2011, a 66-percent jump from the $13.5 billion that the 47 airlines that reported such income made in 2009.

U.S. airlines collected $3.4 billion in bag fees last year. The 24 percent increase from 2009 shows how the airlines are increasingly reliant on charging for once-free services to make money....

Airlines make billions of dollars in fees for check-on luggage, refreshments and other services formerly included in ticket prices, but consumers have a hard time figuring out how much they'll pay in total to fly, a congressional committee heard Wednesday.

The government says airlines collected $7.8 billion in revenue from so-called ancillary fees last year, up a staggering 42 percent from 2008....