TSA fees increase, spark outrage

You might have heard TSA fees are going up Monday -- and if you're outraged, it might be because you're hearing it put like this:

WOFL says, "You will pay more than double."

KNTV says, "Security fees are more than doubling."

​KPNX says, "Nonstop fliers will see a 124 percent increase."

"More than double" and "124 percent increase" sounds pretty scary.

To be fair, they're mathematically correct: A nonstop flier used to pay a $2.50 security fee. That's now $5.60.

So it's going up a couple bucks -- a tiny fraction of your total ticket price.

Then again, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to a travel specialist, who points out that families buying multiple tickets could really feel the fee increase.

On top of that, here's the part that rubs some the wrong way: You can be charged that new fee more than once on the same trip.

"It's outrageous," one passenger said.

"To add to the cost for passengers to fly, that's just kind of absurd," said another.

That's because if your domestic layover is more than four hours, your connection counts as a separate flight.

A presumably outraged Mark Murphy -- writing for FoxNews.com -- called that "redefining the definition of a flight."

Murphy also brings up the "taxation without representation" argument. The increase in fees isn't going toward safer air travel. Instead, Congress intends it to help make up a budget deficit by raising an anticipated $16 billion.

The blog TravelSkills reportsthat in 2013, airlines racked up a total of around $31.5 billion with fees for amenities and services like ticket-change and checked-baggage fees.

To keep the new fee hike from hitting you extra hard, we'd suggest going with nonstop flights as much as possible -- or keeping any domestic layovers under four hours long.

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