How much does it cost to fly?

I've spent the weekend searching for airfare for our Christmas vacation in US. At first I was delighted to see that prices haven't really gone up. I expected them to be much higher so this was a pleasant surprise. Quite the contrary, the prices were at par or in some instances lower than they were 3-4 years ago. Good, I thought. Perhaps this won't be as bad as I anticipated. The warm and fuzzy feeling lasted until the checkout time. The taxes and fees have ballooned up to be two thirds of the price of the actual fare. That means that the advertised price is nowhere close to the actual price (like it used to be). In addition, it makes it very difficult to comparison shop. I went through the beginning of the checkout process with three web sites to determine that the final price was about the same. They varied in what amount they allotted to the ticket price and what amount went to the taxes and fees. I knew that I would pay more than last year. But I find it upsetting that the costs have to be lied about like that. As if you wouldn't notice the difference at payment time.

On a more positive note, see you all at Christmas!