Yes, United Airlines has just raised its fuel surcharge for most flights–and that means, most travelers will now pay a whopping $50-per round-trip above the base airfare.

There’s only one word for this: Unprecedented.

We contacted Robin Urbanski, a spokesperson for United Airlines, who responded to our questions by saying, “Every penny increase in a gallon of jet fuel costs our industry $195 million annually, and while we operate more efficiently, we must be able to pass commodity costs on to customers, as other industries do.”

When we asked why United decided to put the unprecedented increase into effect now, Ms. Urbanski said, “Increases in the cost of fuel continue to be unprecedented.”

These fuel surcharges will go into effect NOW. We are expecting some airlines (if not all) will soon start matching this.

– Graeme Wallace, CTO FareCompare.com