hidden fees

Debt consolidation loans may seem like a great way to manage debt without taking the drastic step of declaring personal bankruptcy, but in many cases the too-good-to-be-true promise of significantly lower monthly payments are just that: an illusion.

You might assume that free checking is one of those banking benefits on the way out, but that's not the case: More than a third of checking accounts charge no monthly service fee. But that doesn't mean that banks don't expect to profit from your checking business. Here are the fees that make "free" a highly inappropriate designation -- and how you can avoid them.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is raising the bar for the treatment of airline passengers this spring. You'll see more transparency in ticket pricing, better deals for bumped passengers, and reimbursement of luggage fees when checked bags are lost or delayed.

There may be a new hope for consumers tired of abounding list of airline fees. Congress may be readying to step in. After sharply questioning Spirit Airlines' CEO today about his airline's fees and hearing new reports that the fees are confusing consumers and business people alike and making...

Depending on who you ask, prepaid calling cards are either a tremendous rip-off or a fantastic money saver -- but based on an ongoing government crackdown against shady operators, lots of customers are getting far less than they paid for. In 2007, the Federal Trade Commission created a joint...

If there's an online industry that likes to add to your purchase price with fees more than Ticketmaster, it has to be online flower-sale companies. It's nothing for a $30 birthday celebration bouquet to turn into a $50 purchase by the time you hit the pay now button. Once you add in delivery fees,...