What it is A fee to snag a coveted seat
What's so bad How many ways can an airline nickel-and-dime you? Next up: $5 to use the bathroom?
Ouch! $75 at Virgin Atlantic for an exit row seat in Economy class; $15 at Northwest for some exit rows and aisle seats.
What you can do Book early, fly another airline or be prepared to be squished.
*Correction: An earlier version of this article posted on Tuesday incorrectly stated that Northwest was the only airline to charge this type of fee. We regret the error.