HIDDEN FEES

Cartoon of smiling sardines packed upright into narrow airplane seats in a tightly spaced cabin, illustrating how shrinking economy legroom crams travelers in like sardines.

Premium creep: How the travel industry downgraded you for profit 

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Remember when you could check a bag, choose your seat, and stretch your legs on a flight without paying extra? It is not an urban legend. You used to be able to do all three at no additional charge. A 34-inch seat pitch was once standard in economy class. Today the industry calls that same space premium economy and charges you more for it, while the 30-inch squeeze becomes the new normal. Call it premium creep, the quiet industry-wide pattern where yesterday’s basics quietly become today’s luxuries, wrapped in marketing language about choice and flexibility. And it is not just airlines: hotels, cruise lines, and even car rental companies have all found ways to strip out what used to be included and sell it back to you. Which raises the question worth sitting with the next time you compare two fares: are you buying an upgrade, or just paying to undo a downgrade the company handed you in the first place?

Editorial cartoon showing a man with glasses standing in front of a store shelf filled with bottles, looking up at a digital sign that displays "YOUR PRICE: $5.99" in red LED letters with a green arrow, illustrating how surveillance pricing creates personalized prices based on consumer data

Don’t ban surveillance pricing. Here’s how to fix it.

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Surveillance pricing happens when companies use everything they know about you including location, browsing history, income, and device type to decide how much to charge you. The Federal Trade Commission documented eight major companies actively using or piloting surveillance pricing powered by third-party data brokers. Maryland is weighing a first-of-its-kind ban on the practice for groceries while JetBlue faces a federal lawsuit alleging it uses passenger data to raise fares. Disclosure requirements similar to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act would force companies to explain exactly what data they used to set custom prices.

Editorial cartoon showing a smiling passenger with glasses holding a rolling suitcase at an airline check-in counter, where the agent's computer screen displays the word "FREE," illustrating the proposal to make checked bags free as a condition of any Spirit Airlines government bailout

If Spirit Airlines gets a government bailout, bags should fly free

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Spirit Airlines has reportedly asked the Trump Administration for $360 million in emergency funding as jet fuel prices doubled following the Iran conflict. After 9/11, Congress provided $5 billion in grants and $10 billion in loan guarantees to airlines. The COVID-19 Payroll Support Program delivered over $50 billion with conditions including killed change fees, capped executive pay, and restricted buybacks. Any new bailout should require Spirit to include one free checked bag in every fare for a minimum of five years, making taxpayer support deliver tangible passenger benefits.

Cartoon of a shepherd watching sheep branded with airline logos (Delta, American, JetBlue, Southwest) jump off a cliff, illustrating airlines following each other on fuel surcharges

Your airline is lying to you about fuel surcharges

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Airlines sure have a funny way of saying thank you. 

After you spend years obsessively funneling every purchase through their co-branded credit cards and sitting in its cramped economy class seats, you finally go to redeem your “free” flight—only to find a $1,400 bill waiting for you at checkout.