More surcharges for United Airlines travelers

December 21st 2007

The No. 2 U.S. carrier, United Airlines, doubled it's surcharge by $10 to compensate for the costs of high fuel today.

Round trip fares are up $10 and one-way tickets $5. All U.S. states, except Hawaii, will be effected. The truth of the matter lies in the airline industry's inability to keep up with increasing fuel costs. Fuel is one of the biggest expenses for airlines' to date.

Every dollar increase in crude oil price increases annual costs by about $65 million, a United spokesperson said. Without a doubt, the holiday season is the busiest travel periods of the year, conversely however, ticket purchases come to a slow down. You'll see numerous carriers offer sales on tickets for travel in January and February. But, to see an increase in price during Christmas is unheard of--until now.