Travel’s become rather brutal these days, and nowhere is it more aggravating than at the check-in counter with your luggage. But wait, there’s help!

Those over-limit fees that airlines are charging passengers for bags that weigh in above an ever-changing limit are one nasty surprise nobody wants to get hit with at the beginning or end of a trip.

A new Web site can help you make sure you’re not hit up for extra money when you’re on the road.

Figuring out the baggage policies of most major airlines these days takes a secret decoder ring and more time than most of us are willing to spare sorting through the fine print or rummaging around an airline Web site.

The free site Luggage Limits catalogs the baggage policies of  more than 90 airlines.

Just plug in what airline you are traveling with, your departure and arrival airports, and the class of your ticket and Luggage Limits will produce a comprehensive breakdown of cost of checking bags, the size limits for both standard and overweight/oversize baggage — and the associated fees — and the size and weight allowance for your carry-on and personal items.

Anybody who travels much knows that first-class passengers have different restrictions from those of us who are traveling at the back of the Air Bus.

What Luggage Limits will tell you is a whole lot easier to read that the legalese you’ll find (if you’re lucky) on the airlines’ Web sites.

Luggage Limits is a free service (it’s ad supported) and requires no registration or personal information. 

Tags: airline, baggage, Luggage Limits, restrictions, weight