Taxes & Fees

Q. Would you please give us a breakdown of all the taxes that are added to airline fees? I can't think of any other service/product you can buy for which the taxes can almost double the total price. What's up with that?

A. Well, for starters, there's a federal segment fee for each takeoff. So depending on whether you choose a non-stop or a connecting flight, the fee will change. The number of connections changes this fee as well.

Facility fees charged by the airports. These vary depending on the specific airports that are included in your itinerary. And again, the more connections, the more fees.

The TSA charges a security fee and that varies depending on the airport.

The airline itself can charge fees, including a fuel surcharge. Theoretically, you're supposed to see this in the base price, but anecdotal evidence suggests that this not always the case.

For international travel, there are additional US government taxes, and you can be sure that immigration, customs and the government of your destination country will be sure to take a cut too. This can result in the "sticker shock" of seeing your ticket double in price (sometimes even more!) when all the extras are added up.