United Airlines ($40 first checked bag, $50 second checked bag) Mileage Plus Explorer customers pay an annual fee of $150 after any promotional offers, which includes a free checked bag.

However, airlines quickly bounced back, with fees rising to $5.3 billion in 2021, $6.7 billion in 2022, and $7.07 billion in 2023 before hitting the latest high.

Checked bag fees are also higher United also raised its checked bag fees earlier this year, following similar moves by American, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines.

However, that is a fraction of the baggage fees collected by other airlines, with American collecting $1.5 billion in 2024, while United pulled in $1.3 billion and Delta garnering $1 billion.