"The financial services industry, the airline industry, the hotel industry - they all love fees and the fact is fees are fudgeable because you get rid of one fee over here, another one pops up over there, it's like whack-a-mole," Adam Levin of Credit.com said.
So how do you rid yourself of pesky fee fleas?
ATM withdrawal fees, overdraft fees, and account inactivity fees can pile up. To avoid the top 3 banking fees, Levin says it simple: consolidate with one bank.
"What they really care about is getting your mortgage, your credit card, you checking account, your savings account, maybe a CD, so the more activity you do with them, the less likely they are to charge you," he said.
The 4th most outrageous fee people complain about is airline fees.
Spirit Airlines charges up to $50 per carry-on now and up to a whopping $125 to change a ticket. The trick to avoiding fees in the sky? Loyalty.
"Frequent flyer miles may well get you out of it. Some of the higher end airline-related credit cards that have airline rewards attached to them may get you out of baggage fees, at least for the first 1 or 2 bags depending on the kind of program you're in," Levin said.
Our 5th most outrageous fee: cell phone surcharges, especially early termination fees.
"You pay your fees and your phone bill and it's like an extra $20-30. It's really bad," Levin said.
Federal and state fees are unavoidable, but the biggest pains are hefty penalties to cancel your plan.
Sprint and Verizon charge $350 to bail out of a smartphone contract. Other carriers charge less, so shop around before signing up and haggle your way into fee-less terms or a free phone.
"There's such competition in the cell phone area but again, you don't ask, you don't get. You lose nothing by asking the question," Levin said.
Other carriers charge less, so shop around before signing up and haggle your way into fee-less terms or a free phone.
"There's such competition in the cell phone area but again, you don't ask, you don't get. You lose nothing by asking the question," Levin said.
Number 6 - it's the home field disadvantage for Mets and Yankees fans. There's a fee if you print out your tickets to the ballgame at home. Both Yankees and Mets charge a fee if you want to save yourself time in the will call line.
And number 7 - when you need a number from 411, you'll get charged a $2 fee plus airtime If you need a number, use the internet or toll free directory assistance.
MORE INFO ONLINE:
Hanging up on killer 411 fees (CNN)
Simple ways to avoid banking fees (US News)
