Avoid Airline Fuel Surcharges

March 12, 2008 <br/> Special to ABCNEWS.com &#151; -- This is not a great time for the airline industry, and it sure isn't a great time for the bargain airfare shopper. And brace yourself, some predict that oil may go to $130 a barrel or higher.

But, you know it's bad; you see the soaring prices at the pump every time you gas up your car. And, you know the airlines are being hit hard, because they hit you hard, in the form of fuel surcharges -- surcharges that just seem to keep going up, up, up.

But not always, which is where it gets a little confusing. This little quiz demonstrates that very nicely.

Question: You want to fly from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. Which of the following three airlines -- as of Monday -- has no fuel surcharge?

A. Delta

B. Southwest

C. US Airways

The correct answer is A and B. And it's a little complicated.: Southwest, true to its lower-cost carrier status, doesn't have a fuel surcharge (in fact, for 2008 it is buying most of its oil at $51 a barrel); Delta often adds a fuel surcharge, but knowing that Los Angeles to Salt Lake is a very competitive nonstop Southwest route, the legacy carrier eschews the surcharge in this instance, to stay competitive.

So both Southwest and Delta charge $148 for this flight route. But US Airways, which like Southwest, is a lower-cost airline, has less invested in the L.A. to Salt Lake route; for this airline, the route is a simple connecting flight, so it doesn't mind tacking on a $50 surcharge to its $148 base price.

It figures that, even though the surcharge is one-third of the price of the ticket, someone will pay the cost, perhaps because seats on the other airlines are sold out, or because loyal US Airways regulars want to get their frequent flier miles and will pay the extra freight to do so.

Still a little confused? I'm not surprised. But I'm here to help.

First, bear in mind that we didn't see fuel surcharges until the middle of last year; by the end of 2007, the surcharges amounted to about $20 per domestic roundtrip. The current fuel surcharge for many domestic flights has now risen to about $50 (and is running more than four times higher on international routes). And we can expect to see more and more fuel surcharges for a long time to come.