You've Been Warned: Airlines Have A Sneaky Way To Trick You Into Spending Money At Check-In

There are plenty of sneaky ways that airlines trick you into spending money –- from adding on fees for checked bags to disappointing upgrades during the inflight service. One fee you might not have seen coming, however, is the charge that is applied when you print your boarding pass. The Wall Street Journal noted that in 2023 airlines such as Breeze Airways charged $3 for each boarding pass printed, while Allegiant Air charged $5 to get a physical ticket printed out — fees that are actually on the lower side. Johnny Jet found that, as of 2025, Ryanair charges customers $68 to print a boarding pass at the airport.

Customers have taken to Reddit to express their disdain for this policy, with one Frontier Airlines flyer posting the airline's policy for an "Airport Agent Assistance" fee, which was $25 per passenger one direction, and non-refundable. Even Spirit Airlines, America's best airline in 2025, has a history of charging for ticket print outs going back as far as 2011, when, according to NPR, they started charging customers $5 to print out their tickets at the check-in counter prior to their flight. Many of the airlines that charge this fee are budget airlines, so while you might be saving on the airfare itself, getting the ticket in hand will cost you extra.

Travelers are often looking for simple ways to save money when flying. When it comes to tickets, there are a few good reasons that you should have a physical copy of your ticket — mostly as a back up. While we live in a digital world where most transactions and information can be stored on your phone, the reality is that phones can easily run intro trouble like having their batteries die, accidentally deleting your ticket, or dropping your Wi-Fi connection to the airline app with your ticket.

Having a physical ticket is always best, especially since chances are high you might run into technical malfunctions while traveling. Plus, while many airports accept mobile tickets, some still require a paper copy. If you have a home printer, or access to one at your workplace, take advantage of printing out your boarding pass once you have checked in for your flight on your laptop or phone 24 hours before departure. Retail stores like Staples or Fedex also tend to have walk-in printers for customers to use — usually with a USB drive or through an email account — with printing available for roughly 25 cents a page in standard black and white, which is significantly cheaper than paying a fee to have your airline print it at the airport for you.