We are no doubt in an age of airline charges for just about anything that one can imagine; baggage fees for checked baggage, even higher fees for one's 2nd or 3rd checked bag.  I know this all too well because I am a part-owner in an Internet shipping business; called ShipMyLuggage.net, and in fact the ShipMyluggage.net start-up was justified in part due to the treatment consumers are receiving from the airlines.  I think well known Southwest Florida cartoonist Dave Horton illustrates it best in this cartoon below...