Like just about every other airline passenger, Elizabeth Rodgers wants to avoid unnecessary fees. So on a recent flight from Los Angeles to Boise, Idaho, she tried to carry all of her luggage on the plane.

She didn't get far.

As Rodgers boarded the cramped regional jet, passengers were being asked to gate-check most carry-ons. A flight attendant tagged her extra bag without charging her $15.

``I checked it for free,'' says Rodgers, a technology writer based in Los Angeles.

Sidestepping this year-old airline rule was pretty easy up to this point. Flight attendants and gate agents routinely waved through passengers with too much luggage, hoping to avoid a confrontation. But now that baggage fees are generating serious money -- they accounted for $1.5 billion in 2008, according to the Transportation Department, and new charges have been imposed since then -- airlines are less likely to let surplus bags slide.

It's clear that airlines are depending on ancillary revenues in general, and luggage fees in particular, more than ever. Air travelers must be more vigilant than ever about avoiding them.

What to do?

• Bring less. Obviously, the best way to avoid paying for a checked bag is not to bring one in the first place. ``Keep your bags as light as possible,'' advises Barbara DesChamps, author of It's in the Bag: The Complete Guide to Lightweight Travel. How can you tell if your luggage is overweight? I've been testing a Balanzza digital luggage scale that's very portable and, at a $24.99 list price, doesn't break the bank. Don't take this advice too far, though. Pack a change of clothes and, for goodness sakes, wear something on the plane. US Airways passenger Keith Wright might have benefited from that advice. He disrobed on a recent flight from Charlotte to Los Angeles, and ended up in the slammer.

• Fly a no-fee airline. JetBlue Airways doesn't charge for the first checked bag. Neither does Southwest Airlines, which doesn't charge for a second bag, either. Both airlines have acknowledged what the rest of us already know: People travel with at least one bag. Shouldn't we be rewarding these airlines with our business?

• Look for loopholes. They still exist. For example, US Airways exempts all of its frequent fliers, passengers traveling to and from Europe or Asia, Star Alliance Silver and Gold status members, unaccompanied minors, first-class passengers and active duty military. Is anyone left? Mark Mitchell, American Airlines' managing director of customer experience, recently told me that only one in four passengers pay luggage fees.

• Ask someone else to pay. Hotels are mindful that first-bag fees can hurt their business, so they're offering to cover the fees. One of the first was Kimpton Hotels. My friends at Amelia Island have a new program called ``Pack Your Bags for Amelia Island'' that offers air travelers an $80 room credit for checked baggage fees. If you have to pay for a checked bag, why not pass the bill off to someone else?

• Get creative. Passengers like Carolina Moore, a marketing consultant in North Las Vegas, are finding interesting ways of avoiding the fees. When she flew with her 9-month-old son recently, she discovered that consolidating her purse, diaper bag, car seat and port-a-crib into two large (and barely legal) bags allowed her to avoid the $15 fee.

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