--- title: We're Paying an Extra $5 Billion in Airline Fees This Year description: A new study projects that travelers will pay $28.5 billion in a la carte airline fees globally this year, an increase of roughly $5 billion over 2013. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2014-11-03T21:01:16.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T09:58:41.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - Airline Fees - Airlines - ancillary fees - fees - Transportation - Travel word_count: 433 canonical: https://money.com/airline-fees-baggage-flights/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Checked bags](https://img.money.com/2014/11/141103_em_airlinefees1.jpg?crop=0px%2C1521px%2C3744px%2C2102px&quality=85) A new study from the airline consultancy firm [IdeaWorksCompany](http://www.ideaworkscompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Press-Release-92-Global-Estimate.pdf) projects that ancillary revenues—money generated for sales above and beyond the base price of flights—will hit $50 billion (OK, $49.9 billion) for carriers worldwide in 2014, up from an estimated [$43 billion](http://www.ideaworkscompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Press-Release-84-Global-Estimate.pdf) last year and [$36 billion](http://www.ideaworkscompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Press-Release-72-Global-Estimate.pdf) in 2012. For 2014, $21.4 billion of the total is expected to come from "frequent flier and commission-based" revenues, which include the sale of frequent flier miles and sales commissions from hotels, rental cars, and travel insurance booked through the airline. The majority of the global ancillary revenue total, on the other hand, comes from a familiar and ever-expanding roster of fees confronting airline passengers, including charges for checked and carry-on baggage, seating assignments, and on-board services such as food, beverages, and wi-fi. Worldwide, the IdeaWorks study estimates, the total for such a la carte fees will be $28.5 billion for 2014, up from $23.7 billion a year ago. Baggage fees are expected to represent roughly 25% of all ancillary revenues generated by the typical U.S.-based airline this year, up from [20% in 2012](http://www.ideaworkscompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Press-Release-72-Global-Estimate.pdf). To some extent, travelers have grown accustomed to being charged extra for checked baggage and other services that used to be included in the base cost of air travel. Yet IdeaWorks president Jay Sorensen warned that relentlessly adding on fees or jacking up the rates of existing fees can be risky for airlines. "Consumers are best served when choice is accompanied with better value," Sorenson said in a statement accompanying the 2014 study. "Merely charging a fee for a service that was once free may quickly degrade the brand of a traditional airline and alienate their core consumer base.” What's particularly galling to travelers is that fees have been added or hiked skyward at a time when airfares are also getting more expensive. The average domestic round trip in the U.S. now runs $500, more or less, and prices have risen nearly 11% over the past five years, after adjusting for inflation. Airfare has gone up at the same time that fees have gone up as well, so it's unsurprising that airlines have recorded [record-high profits](http://business.time.com/2013/12/12/airline-profits-to-hit-record-high/) of late. What might seem more surprising—not to mention pretty darn unfair—is that airfares and fees are rising even as [fuel costs decline](https://time.com/3529791/airfares-rising-fuel-gas/) substantially. As consumer advocate [Christopher Elliott](http://elliott.org/thats-ridiculous-2/can-handle-truth-shrinking-airline-seats-baggage-fees/) pointed out recently, airlines originally blamed higher fuel costs as the reason they were forced to add fees for checked baggage in the first place. But now that the cost of fuel is retreating, airlines aren't dropping fees or flight prices. 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