A new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security fee went into effect Monday, July 21, which will raise airfare.
According to USA Today, the old fee was $2.50 for a non-stop flight and $5 for a connecting flight. There was also a $5 cap on any one-way ticket, so consumers paid $10 at the most for any round-trip flight.
The new fee is $5.60 for each leg and has no cap on how much fliers need to pay based on layovers. For domestic flights, TSA defined a one-way flight as having a layover of no more than four hours. Fox News explained that if one buys a round-trip ticket that has two connections longer than four hours, she or he will be charged a total of $22.40.
TSA is redefining the meaning of a one-way flight with this fee, now that any flight with a connection more than fours is considered to be two separate flights. Although the increased fee will help the agency’s declining deficit, many travelers wonder if TSA has the right to redefine these flights with long layovers while airlines still treat such flights as one-way trips. TSA will continue to collect comments through Aug. 19 about the new charges.
Fliers should carefully select flights that have layovers that last shorter than four hours to avoid extra charges from the new fee.
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