Starting today, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) fee increase on airline tickets go in effect.
The increase is due to a restructure to the September 11th Security Fee where revenue generated from the fee “will be deposited in the general fund” to help “offset TSA costs for providing civil aviation security services, after stipulated amounts are applied to reduction of the federal deficit,” according to a TSA announcement.
The fee increase is most apparent for travelers purchasing airline tickets for non-stop flights and connecting flights.
The September 11th security fee was $2.50 for a non-stop flight or $5 for a connecting flight. Effective today, it’ll be $5.60 for all flights. It’s also going to count as a separate flight for any connection longer than four hours.
The fee increase was approved by Congress in December.
The fee increase is expected to raise $12.6 billion to cut the deficit and is estimated to generate $16.9 billion more than previous collections.
While the fee takes effect today, the TSA is collecting comments through Aug. 19.
[Source: TSA]