It’s a safe bet to describe our airline and hotel experience as living in the home of the brave and the land of the fee.

The latest numbers are out, and in the world of nickel-and-diming, they’re a little frightening.

Last year, the top ten airlines generated $28 billion in ancillary fees for things like checked bags, ticket change fees, and penalty fees.

Globally, the airlines earned $67.4 billion from those fees.

That’s huge.

In terms of pure profit, they make more money from these fees than they make operating as airlines.

Hotels are a close second.

They now charge for early check out, room cancellations, or the dreaded resort fees.

This is high margin revenue for airlines and hotels, and they’re not going away any time soon.

Do you have any recourse for these fees?

At the hotel level, maybe.

If the hotel doesn’t fully disclose things like that resort fee at the time you make your reservation or check in, you can dispute those charges when you get your bill.

But for the rest of those fees, I’m afraid that short of charging folks to exhale, there are more fees on the horizon.

For more information about travel and fees, check out:

• Watch Out for These New Airline Fees
• What You Should Know About Hotel Rates & Fees
• Keep an Eye Out for Deceptive Pricing at Hotels

Keep reading for more travel tips.