Spirit Airlines has made something of a hobby of courting public ill will, culminating in its recent campaign to reward customers who write聽hate mail on their site. But the airlines' recent move to increase baggage charges during the holiday period leaves it looking more like Ebenezer Scrooge than ever.

That's right, Spirit is tacking on聽an extra $2 surcharge聽on top of its usual checked baggage fees for passengers traveling December 18 to January 5. This means baggage charges will roughly increase from $40 to $42. Spirit聽justified its increased charges聽by saying, "Winter is coming and that means holidays, which means more people than ever will be traveling with Spirit to visit their loved ones. To make sure we have room for everyone's bags, we're encouraging customers to pack a bit lighter."

But adding a fee isn't an encouragement, it's a punishment, made even more difficult to swallow by a recent article in the聽LA Times聽which reports that airline profits are up 64% and that聽checked luggage fees generated $900 million聽in the second quarter of 2014. Essentially, Spirit has figured out a way to charge travelers for needing warmer clothes and bringing gifts to their loved ones. Stay tuned for an announcement on upcoming smiling and excess breathing taxes.

What do you think, readers? Will this make you less likely to fly Spirit?聽

Paula Kerrigan is the associate travel editor for Dealnews.com, where this article first appeared:听丑迟迟辫://诲别补濒苍别飞蝉.肠辞尘/蹿别补迟耻谤别蝉/厂辫颈谤颈迟-础颈谤濒颈苍别蝉-奥颈濒濒-搁补颈蝉别-颁丑别肠办别诲-叠补驳驳补驳别-贵别别-蹿辞谤-迟丑别-贬辞濒颈诲补测蝉/1156189.丑迟尘濒