Most of the major airlines have added a $40 fuel surcharge to domestic round trip tickets this weekend. It seems like a way to institute a secret fare increase which passengers won't be aware of until time of ticketing as it isn't included in online fare quotes.

On the surface this seems somewhat reasonable since we all know how much fuel prices have risen. But the timing is very very curious once you understand that almost all airline buy their fuel in the futures market to hedge against this very situation. Also OPEC is meeting this weekend and the price of fuel will soon fall if they agree to boost production, as seems likely.

Looks to me like they came up with this when they think they can sell it to press and public. Please refresh my memory - did any of you receive a fuel price rebate when oil fell under $10 not so long ago?