I first became aware of the whole hidden fee issue in 2000, when we were in the middle of our first run of "gas crises". We were scheduling a vacation to Spring Training that year, and had to factor in a "fuel surcharge" to our flight. This was, in my opinion, the equivalent of saying "you paid for the plane ride...now pitch in for the gas".

As the years have gone by, I've seen how much worse it has gotten. In our household, for instance, our actual electric usage last month was just over $19...our bill was $42. My cell phone monthly contract is $39.99 a month...my monthly bill is $55. A glance across the itemized bills shows this surcharge and the other until they've added so many hidden costs to your bill to in come cases DOUBLE your charges. I've noticed the same surcharges on cable and phone bills, which we currently don't have, so we don't worry about.

The practice of billing in this manner is, in my opinion, fraudulent. True costs should be explained so that, in evaluating certain options, one isn't stuck with a sudden case of "sticker shock" from an outrageous bill (in our case, we planned for those in the budget due to experience, but how many Americans haven't). In Southwest's current fare promotion, a close listen to this disclaimer makes it clear you could well pay up to $14 extra for your ticket...remembering that it's a "one way" ticket, your $39 flight could conceivably be a $106 flight...still inexpensive, but 25% over the $78 one would be planning on based on their promotion. And the $39 flight is probably only good between Milwaukee and Chicago, where a Metra pass would be a cheaper, and likely faster, option.