Airlines Upping Fees To Follow Fuel Costs

Delta Air Lines has imposed new or higher fees on a host of travelers, including frequent fliers, passengers traveling with pets and people booking their tickets over the phone.

The fee changes come as Delta and its competitors try to boost revenue to offset record fuel prices.

Delta isn't saying how much revenue it expects from the fee changes, but the parent company of United Airlines said new luggage fees would generate more than $100 million annually.

The industry has had mixed success with fare increases.

"Desperate people do desperate things," remarked Minneapolis airline expert Terry Trippler.

Betsy Talton, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines Inc., the country's third-largest carrier, says Delta's additional fees are largely in response to fuel prices and said that the most recent attempts by Delta to raise fares "have not been successful because there's also a need for Delta to be competitive."

Airlines have seen fuel costs rise more than 50 percent in the past year, Travelocity Editor at Large Amy Ziff told Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez Wednesday, "and that adds up to hundreds of millions of dollars" they have to find ways to recapture.

Generally, Ziff said, the carriers are "penalizing" infrequent fliers who aren't as familiar with the fee structure as frequent fliers. "Those frequent travelers, the business travelers, they kind of know the routine. ... It's gonna be these leisure travelers who are heading out this summer who are very likely to get caught unaware. They don't travel frequently and they will get hit with this, and it's pretty substantial."

Talton says Delta continuously reviews all aspects of its business "to
One of the changes most likely to rankle frequent fliers is a new $25 "handling charge" for any Delta award ticket booked through a Delta representative that includes a segment on another airline. In the past, people who redeemed their Delta SkyMiles for free tickets on partner carriers such as Northwest and Continental didn't pay a "handling charge" whether they booked it on the phone or online.

The fee for booking an award ticket on another airline through a Delta representative helps Delta recoup charges from the other airline, Talton says. Booking Delta award travel on another airline will not carry the new $25 fee if done online, Talton said.

The "handling charge" would be on top of the fee Delta charges for booking travel over the telephone, which is increasing Tuesday to $25 from $20.

It was not clear if Delta's partner carriers will impose a "handling charge" on their frequent fliers booking award tickets on Delta. A spokeswoman for Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines Corp., Michelle Aguayo-Shannon, declined to comment on the issue. A spokeswoman for Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc., Mary Clark, says Continental doesn't have such a fee. She says she can't comment on any potential "future pricing actions."

Delta, based in Atlanta, also said carrying a pet in the cabin will cost $100 instead of $75. The oversize bag fee will be $150 instead of $100. The unaccompanied minor fee will be $100 on all flights instead of $50 for nonstop flights and $100 for connecting flights.

In February, UAL Corp.'s United Airlines said it would in May start charging domestic passengers $25 to check in a second piece of luggage. Certain elite fliers are exempt from that fee.

On Friday, Northwest - Michigan's largest passenger air carrier - said it would begin charging $25 each way for a second checked bag. It also raised its fee for a third bag from $80 to $100. And it doubled its $25 fee for bags over 50 pounds.