U.S. fliers spent $3.36 billion in baggage fees in 2011

This final note today, in which we learn — not for the first time — that those baggage fees really add up.

From the Associated Press today comes this number: $3.36 billion. That, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, is how much we collectively paid in checked and carry-on bag fees last year. And it is, believe it or not, down from 2010.

Airfares last year? Up 10 percent from a year ago.