American Airlines charged me for a checked bag and they never told me there was a checked bag fee. 25$.

Do you think that's covered in the contract with the airline. Could I dispute the transaction with my visa debit?

"They never told me" has me wondering - how do you expect to have been "told"? When you booked on the website, did you drill down to the listing of fees and such? If you booked over the phone, did you ask?

Charging for baggage (and assigned seat, and food on the plane) is now commonplace, these have become "optional" items additional to the "basic" fare on many airlines and routes. This is not news.

As to whether your credit-card company can help you dispute that charge - while I seriously doubt it, we here at Fodors are fellow travelers, not lawyers, only your credit-card company will be the on to tell you for real. Ask them.

If you google "American Airlines" the first page that comes up has a marked section on the right hand side whose first topic is "bag information" which mentions the $25 fee for the first bag and $35 for the second checked bag.

https://www.google.com/#q=american+airlines

I am pretty sure that this information appears somewhere on the web page when purchasing tickets.

It's been true for years. If you have a certain credit card you can get a bag checked for free.
How often do you fly? Not being snarky, but it is really widely known. You are lucky they didn't charge you for the seat also!! THAT they do have to ask/tell you.

DS flew today on American and there were no seats available without a charge (up to leaving). The center seat was going for $40!! He and DGS just waited until flight time for what was available for free. This was on a ticket that cost $1000, I will add. Unbelievable.

It's also "been true" that when you talk about Main Cabin Extra seats they are not the same as regular seats.

troll?