Hall of Shame Nominee #8:

Airline baggage fees

After years of declining customer satisfaction, poor on-time performance, Byzantine rules about redeeming frequent flier miles and repeated cutting of “perks” (like food and free water!), the airline industry decided it was time to give up even the pretense that they cared about their customers.  American Airlines got the ball rolling when they announced this spring that they were going to start charging passengers $15 to check even one bag on a flight, and a whole slew of airlines jumped on the bandwagon.  On top that, you can now expect to pay for a blanket, to get an assigned seat, and even, in some cases, for non-alcoholic beverages!  The airlines claimed the highs fuel prices reached over the summer are the cause, but the fact is, they’ve been itching to charge you for all of this stuff for years.  Don’t expect to see any of these fees discontinued now that fuel prices have come down.

Next: Sticker shock…at the grocery store!

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