Orbitz raises ticket fees

Online travel agency Orbitz confirmed Wednesday that it has raised its standard service fee to $6 per ticket, adding another dollar to the cost of booking air travel on the site. Orbitz also hiked service fees for flights on ATA and Frontier Airlines to $11. Fees for those carriers, previously $10, are higher because they don't pay Orbitz a commission, an Orbitz representative said.

Orbitz said in a statement that the higher fees, which it began charging on July 1, are needed to support consumer services and advanced features such as low airfare alerts and around-the-clock service. Orbitz is owned by the five largest airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines. Rivals Expedia and Travelocity, both of which charge $5 per ticket, have yet to raise their fees.