Airport Security Theater Is About to Cost You More Money

Well, if you fly. Mashable reports:

Starting in mid-July, airline passengers will be paying more fees for security at the airport.

Following orders from Congress, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is poised to raise the security screening fee to $5.60 each way. This fee, which is included in your ticket price, is up from $2.50 each way for a nonstop flight and $5 for a trip including connections.

Trips with long stopovers — more than four hours on most domestic travel — will have bigger increases because each leg will trigger a new fee.

The fee is used to finance “the increased cost of securing the nation’s transportation systems,”according to the TSA. In 2013, the security fee on passengers raised more than $1.8 billion for the TSA, or about 20% of its $8 billion annual budget.

The increase would bring in enough money to cover 43% of 2014’s budget, according to the U.S. House Budget Committee.

If you’ve been looking for another reason to have virtual meetings and conferences, here’s one.

Here’s another.