If it were easy(-ier) to compare apples to apples with the “add ons” I wouldn’t care. But when one airline is $50 for a bag on a certain flight but $30 on others and another airline is $20, it’s hard to know which airfare is actually cheaper. And this is one way they keep you married to them, with rewards and so on, by eliminating those for loyalty. Amex Platinum avoids most of this, but you can only get the nickel and dime repaid from one airline at a time.

Thank you for reminding the room that markets can fail to provide at a middle price tier because there simply aren’t enough people willing to pay. The only remaining options are the super-premium, which most of what would have been the middle market can’t afford, and basic economy.