The post Senior Discounts Are Mostly Gone, but These 10 Airline Fees Aren’t Always Owed first appeared on Crafting Your Home.
Turning 65 does not exempt anyone from a single airline fee under federal rules. Senior fares used to be common, and travel editors have watched carriers dropped senior programs entirely over the years.
The money-saving protections that remain hinge on circumstances rather than birthdays: a booking window, a cancelled flight, a disability. Ten of them follow, each with a catch.
The cancellation penalty inside a 24-hour window
Airlines must either allow penalty-free cancellation within 24 hours of booking or let customers hold a fare for 24 hours, a choice The Points Guy’s passenger-rights guide describes as a 24-hour hold option for carriers. The booking has to happen at least seven days before departure, so a last-minute fare gets no cushion.
Autopilot’s rule breakdown cites 14 CFR 259.5 and flags a gap: the rule binds airlines directly, and a ticket bought through an online travel agency may not carry the airline’s 24-hour policy.
Fares and fees on a flight the airline cancels
An airline lobbying group asked regulators to withdraw the automatic refund rule, according to a lobbying group filing The Points Guy reported. The Department of Transportation replied that it would faithfully implement the consumer protections Congress mandated, including the codified refund rule.
The April 2024 final rule requires automatic and prompt cash refunds when they are owed. Autopilot’s guide puts a significant delay at three hours or more domestically and six hours or more internationally. A voucher offer is not the default; cash returns to the original payment method.
The bag fee for a bag that shows up late
Same rule, different pocket. Carriers must refund when they delay passengers’ checked bags, and refunds must arrive automatically, promptly, in full and in cash or the original payment form.
The coverage does not state the delay threshold, so reading the regulation text beats assuming a bag that arrives an hour late qualifies. No claim form is required, which is the point.
Add-ons the airline never delivered
Seat selections and other extras sold on top of a fare fall under the same refund framework. The regulation’s own title, 14 CFR Part 260, names refunds for airline fare and ancillary service fees. A paid extra that never materializes is money owed back.
Cash or the original payment method comes first, and vouchers are acceptable only when the passenger chooses them. Anyone handed a credit instead of a refund should ask which rule is being applied.
Related: 13-travel-mistakes-that-can-turn-your-dream-trip-into-a-stressful-mess
Change fees on standard economy tickets
Before 2020, Delta and American’s typical $200 domestic change fee was routine. United, Delta and American then waived change fees on main cabin and above, leaving basic economy behind.
Waived penalties still require you to pay the fare difference if the new flight costs more. An analysis on View from the Wing argues the arrangement works for carriers because price-sensitive flyers get shunted into basic economy, leaving the remaining main cabin buyers less price-focused.
Change fees at two outliers
Major airlines do not charge change fees on flights, though you still must pay any difference in airfare if your new flight costs more.
Alaska Airlines permanently eliminated change fees for Main Cabin, Premium Class, Business, and First Class tickets; this policy excludes basic economy (Saver fares).
Both reports predate current fare menus. Fare rules at booking beat any roundup, including this one.
Charges for disability-related assistance
Airlines cannot charge extra for disability assistance, a guide to the Air Carrier Access Act (49 U.S.C. § 41705) explains, and they cannot make a disabled passenger buy an extra seat. Age does not trigger the protection. A disability does.
Assuming every 65-year-old qualifies would be wrong, and so would an airline presuming the opposite.
Related Post: If You’re Over 60, Flight Attendants Say Never Fly Without Asking for These 5Things
Baggage fees on mobility aids
Most major commercial airlines cannot charge baggage or handling fees for personal mobility aids and assistive devices.
The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) places total liability on airlines for lost or damaged wheelchairs or other mobility devices on domestic flights, regardless of the cost
A ticket for a mandated safety assistant
If a passenger with a disability and the airline disagree about needing a safety assistant, the airline can require one but, per DOT’s passenger-with-disabilities guidance, cannot charge for that person’s transportation.
The reverse also holds. When a passenger simply chooses to bring a caregiver, MDA’s guide says the airline may charge for transportation. Who made the call decides who pays.
The first checked bag on Southwest
Southwest ended its blanket policy of two free bags on May 28, 2025, charging $35 for the first. The fee was raised to $45 in April 2026, according to AwardWallet.
Rapid Rewards cardholders get one free bag for themselves and up to eight others on the same reservation. Annual fees on those cards run from $99 to $299, and authorized users are excluded.
Even while the first two bags were free, Southwest collected $83 million in 2024 from passengers with three bags or overweight luggage.