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You work hard for your dollars, so spending them on anything unnecessary is painful to even think about, right? But, you probably actually do that all of the time. Look, if industries only sold you what you needed, they likely wouldn’t be profitable. That’s not true of all industries—there are some honest ones out there who are really tying to give you value for your money—but many make their profit on those upcharges. The upsell. The little final push for the accessories, bells and whistles, VIP experience, first class treatment, and so on.
So often in life, you walk into a situation with one thing in mind that you need to purchase, and walk out having bought something you didn’t even know you needed…and probably didn’t need. But a good salesperson—or a good marketing campaign—will lead you to believe that you need certain things. Maybe it’s something about getting older, but I’ve recently become quite interested in finding the scams and differentiating between the things I do and don’t need to pay for. I finally understand my parents more, who were so adamant about negotiating and asking lots of questions before paying for anything. Even the tiniest bit of money you let slip away from you for something useless could have taken you hours or days to earn.
When you’re already in that sales environment and the pressure is on, you can feel blinded by the glitz of the upcharge, and your knowledge of what the dollar is worth can become foggy. If you’re in a hurry, or feel hurried by the person pitching you, it can become very difficult to keep your head on straight. But don’t be fooled by some silly upcharges. Here are upcharges that aren’t worth it…and a few that are.
First class on a short flight
It’s “just” $40 or $60 to upgrade to Business or First Class on this flight. That being said, the flight is only a few hours long. And it was a cheap flight to begin with. Maybe the original ticket was $240, so paying $60 to upgrade is paying 25 percent of your original ticket price to fly in luxury for a short trip. It may be worth it on longer trips, but not quick ones.
