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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.
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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.
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Credit card maintenance fee
So you’re researching the best card for you, and this one luxury credit card gives you access to VIP lounges at airports and additional checked luggage fees. Alright, fine, but the maintenance fee is $175 versus the modest $35 you pay on your other card. Meanwhile, you never arrive at the airport early enough to make use of the VIP lounges, and you really don’t pack much, so that luggage fee “perk” is a fake one for you.
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Wi-Fi equipment installment and rental
You need new equipment for your Wi-Fi. Your Internet company offers to rent you one for “just” $7 or $9 a month. “That’s not so bad,” you say. It’s not, per say, but you could buy your own for about $35. And it will likely last you five years if you take good care of it. If you were paying $9 a month that entire time, you’d pay $540 in rental fees…versus a $35 one-time fee of buying your own.
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The “better” liquor
Maybe it feels “cheap” to order the well beverage. The bars want you to feel that way, which is why they line their shelves with gorgeous bottles of top-shelf stuff, to really make you feel that when you order “well,” you’re getting something bad. Always ask what the well liquor is because sometimes, it’s decent stuff.
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Adding the guacamole on take-out
If you’re dining in and can’t enjoy your nachos without the guacamole, you may just have to pay for it. However, if you’re taking your food to go, why add the tiny side of guacamole for $4.75 when you can buy enough avocados to make an enormous bowl of the stuff for a few bucks? You’re eating at home, so just make your own guac.
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Entertainment features in the car
The special speaker system. The thing that syncs up to all of your music apps. The system that syncs up to Apple Pay so you can buy apps and music just by speaking to your car. When you get these features, you pay for them—sometimes a lot. But, if you’re like many drivers, you never learn to use them at all, or even if you do, you don’t use them because A) it’s not really safe to use them while driving and B) you’re rarely in the car long enough to use them.
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Safety features in a car
So the car you’re looking at automatically breaks when it gets too close to another, beeps to notify you of someone in your blind spot, and has several other features to help prevent accidents. That being said, it’s much more expensive than the car with fewer safety features. You’re a safe driver—you say—so you don’t need to pay for all that. Well, hold on: you may get a serious break on your car insurance for getting such a safe car. Call them to ask what sort of discount those safety features get you, and you may find it’s worth the cost.
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Leather seats in a car
You’re looking at cars and considering the one with the fabric seats versus the one with the leather seats. The one with leather is quite a bit more, but for good reason. Leather is easy to clean and doesn’t hold onto odors. The fabric seats may be cheaper, but one little spill can mean spending lots to have them cleaned. Then there’s all the money spent on air fresheners, that don’t do much good, because those seats retain so many smells.
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Turn down service
If you’re staying at a hotel, you may not think you’re paying more for your turn down service, but in a way you are, because sometimes, rejecting the service for a day earns you a drink voucher. If you’re staying somewhere for a while, opting out of the turn down service every other day could mean substantial dollars in vouchers. Check if your hotel offers something like this.
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A room with a view
Getting the room with the ocean view or mountain view can be nice, but it can also cost you a pretty penny more than the room with a view of, say, the street or the parking lot. Ask yourself what kind of trip this is. If you’ll be out of the room most of the time, just using it to sleep and shower, don’t pay the upcharge for the room with the view.
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Adding the cheese on take-out
Cheese is another food you shouldn’t add on take-out or delivery food, if it’s going to cost you. Some burger places charge a couple of bucks to put cheese on burger—that’s one little slice of cheese. If you’re eating at home, you probably have your own cheese you can throw on your food.
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Plate splitting
Though paying for someone to split your food for you onto two plates can feel silly, this one is actually quite fair. With these split charges being rather reasonable—usually hovering around $5 or $7—you have to remember that the diners aren’t just paying for the food but also the experience. And if buying two entrees would have cost, say $40, then paying for just one $20 entrée plus $5 to split it is certainly worth it.
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Additional data
Your phone company may offer you a rather massive data plan for a bit more money. Maybe you need it and maybe you don’t. But check into that yourself. Look up how to review the data usage on your exact phone model to see how much you actually use each month. You may find that you don’t need to buy this extra data at all.
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Additional mileage
When you lease a car, you’re paying for the miles, on top of many other things. But the mileage plays a big role in your monthly cost. Often, when you go to a car dealership, they may just select a mileage package for you, without discussing it with you, so you may pay for 12,000 miles a year, when you really only drive 7,000. Do not pay for miles you won’t be using.
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That “protection” package
After agreeing on a monthly payment for your lease, you’ll be pitched a “protection” package that can easily add $75 to $100 a month to your car. The finance person will sell you hard on this, as they get commission on these packages. Here’s the thing: your car insurance—if you have a full-coverage plan—already covers these things. So you’d be paying twice for something if you bought this package.
