1Get Rid of Checked Baggage Fees by Using a Carry-On Bag

One of the most inconvenient and hefty new fees that you must avoid at all costs is the checked baggage fees. A number of airlines have taken to charging approximately $15 and $25 for the first checked bag and the second one respectively per leg of a flight. In addition to paying these huge sums you also have to contend with long queues and lost luggage worries. To avoid paying this new airline fee, simply invest in a carry-on bag that meets the airline’s carry-on stipulations and allowances.

2What if You Must Use Bags?

It is air-travel-savvy to realize that the checked baggage fees levied on a bag are revised upward for bags that exceed the stipulated minimum weight and size limits. This means that the aforesaid minimum of $15 charged on the first checked bag can increase ten-fold or more on certain airlines if it is deemed overweight or oversized. These high charges can be avoided by opting to use two bags – an action that will lower the cost to approximately $40 since the second bag will ordinarily be charged $25 as described above. Alternatively, you can opt to take a carry on with you. You can then transfer the extra weight from your bag into the same, thus ensuring that you end up paying the $15 or thereabouts.

When both these options don’t seem feasible you can opt to use shipping agents like USPS or FedEx to transfer your weighty luggage. The rates are quite competitive in comparison.

3It Pays to Join Frequent Flyer Clubs

If you are a frequent flyer with some of the major airlines, it will be a prudent decision to join their frequent flyer programs and to remain loyal to the same so as to accumulate points. Several of these airlines incentivize such members with total waivers on baggage fees.

4Avoid Paying a Seat Selection Fee

Many domestic airlines will now set you back between $10 and $20 in ‘preferred’ seat selection fees for aisle and exit row seats, respectively. These new airline fees can be avoided by making a point of checking in online before the flight is due. Their 24-hour window for doing this is most adequate; make the most of the free non-preferred seating arrangements available to all at these times. This way you can book the seats that offer comfortable leg space, e.g., those at the back. You also stand a better chance of getting dibs on newspapers and blankets.

5How to Avoid Paying Pillow and Blanket Fees Aboard

Having to part with up to $7 in pillow and blanket fees can be quite disheartening, especially when you really need to take forty winks through the clouds. Why not invest in a cheap inflatable pillow that is normally compact enough to fit in a purse or briefcase? Rather than pay for a blanket you can always carry a warm sweater to pull on when that biting airplane draft starts to bite.

6Avoid Airline Fees By Always Taking your Headset with You

In-flight video entertainment has suddenly attracted a really inconvenient expense in the form of headset fees. On some local airlines you will need to part with anywhere between $1 and $5 just to get a pair of cheap headsets required to let you tune into the said entertainment platform. Avoid paying this new airline fee by bringing your own headphones or iPod earbuds and thus get superior sound quality at no cost at all.

7Pay In-Flight Food Fees? No Thanks.

That you are now required to pay for your meals and drinks in-flight is quite unbelievable, especially when these new airline fees are being extended to cover bottled water and light snacks. Well, these are fees that must be avoided, more so because it can be quite difficult to fly with a grumbling belly. Don’t pay for the food – pack enough of your own in a brown bag and pack it in your carry-on. Since the TSA won’t allow you to carry water through checkpoints you just have to bring an empty bottle and once through the checks, proceed to fill it up at the closest water fountain.

8Know How to Talk your Way out of Fees for Drinks and Meals

It is worth knowing that a couple of airlines have given their staff an unwritten rule to the effect that they can charge customers for soft drinks as long as they don’t complain. You should therefore take full advantage of this and talk your way to a free soft drink from the flight attendant. Remember that the key word is ‘talk’ and not ‘grovel’ or ‘shout’ lest you be escorted off the plane by TSA staff.

9Flying Southwest Means a Fee-Free Experience

Thanks to the brilliant anticipatory fuel ‘hedges’ policy that Southwest implemented back in 1998 to keep rising fuel costs at bay, this is the only airline that does not levy any of the new fees that are being invented by the day. Flying Southwest means you will avoid paying checked baggage fees for the first two bags. It also means that you won’t have to pay for non-alcoholic drinks, snacks or flight plan changes.

10Have your Hotel Take Care of You and your Bills

A number of hotel chains have taken the initiative to create attractive promotions based on the new checked baggage fees that airline users are being forced to pay. Just by displaying your checked baggage receipt as proof you stand to get monetary incentives in the form of room credit, hotel credit, and even dining credit depending on the individual hotel in question.