If you book a flight today on the low-fare carrier AllegiantAir, www.allegiantair.com, you will notice that it bumps up the round-trip total by adding taxes and fees.
The agent was smart enough to understand, and after a 15-minute hold time (where the minutes ticked by and I wondered if I would be able to make the AllegiantAir flight that was now taking off in 35 minutes), he came back and let me know a manager had approved the changes without any fees.
An ultra-low-fare model gives carriers such as Allegiant and Spirit more flexibility in unbundling the costs of air travel, Cordle said, but other airlines will be watching the carry-on fee closely.