1. Being Charged for Not Charging

A few credit card issuers have started levying annual fees on less active users to encourage them to spend. Citibank, for example, slaps a $60 fee on certain cardholders unless they charge $2,400 within a year. (Spokesman Samuel Wang blames it on the “increasing costs of doing business.”) And US Bank Visa Platinum dings you $40 if you don’t use your card during a 12-month period.

How to fight back: Happily, such fees are the exception, not the rule. So vote with your feet, says Curtis Arnold of CardRatings.com. Look into switching to a card issued by a credit union (findacreditunion.com). Credit unions typically charge fewer fees than big banks do.

2. Parting With Cash to Close Your HELOC

Lenders have been quick to freeze or slash borrowers’ home equity lines of credit in the past few years. But if you dare close down a line yourself within the first three to four years of opening it, you’ll pay from $250 to $700. Two-thirds of all lenders charge such fees, says Keith Gumbinger of HSH. He says it’s because the creditor has to absorb certain closing costs.

How to fight back: Keep the line open, even if you don’t plan to use it. If you must close the line — say, because you want to refinance your mortgage — ask your lender to waive the fee. If the same lender has your HELOC and your new mortgage, it may comply.

3. Forking Over New Charges for Overdrafts

Often banks allow you to link a savings account to your checking account so that funds can be pulled from the former if you overdraw the latter. This workaround can help you avoid nonsufficient-funds fees, now averaging $30, according to Bankrate.com. But many banks have found a workaround for your workaround: They’ll charge you $10 to $20 every time they transfer your money between the accounts. Meanwhile, it costs the bank next to nothing to move the funds, says Bryan Derman of Glenbrook Partners, a financial services consulting firm.

How to fight back: Sign up on your bank’s website or Mint.com for e-mail or text-message alerts that tell you when your checking account balance is below a certain amount. That way, you can make transfers for free yourself before an overdraft is triggered.

4. Paying to Use Your Frequent-Flier Miles

Can it really be called “reward travel” if you have to pay for the reward? Apparently. To redeem your miles for any flight on US Airways, you must pay a $25 to $50 fee. (“It’s an effort to recoup a portion of the overhead of the program,” says spokesman Todd Lehmacher.) American, United, and Continental, among others, usually make you pony up $50 to $500 one way to use miles for upgrades.

How to fight back: Stick to one airline, and try to achieve gold or platinum status (which generally involves flying at least 25,000 miles a year). That way you’ll escape redemption fees, says Randy Peterson of WebFlyer.com. Don’t travel that much? Consider a credit card that lets you earn miles — specifically “elite qualifying miles” — such as Platinum Delta SkyMiles American Express (800-223-2670). Just be sure to weigh the annual fee against the benefit you’ll get.

5. Coughing up to chat with a human being

Time was, the biggest obstacle in reaching a live customer service rep was getting through an automated phone system. Now many businesses — from airlines to credit card companies to computer manufacturers — have added another hurdle, in the form of a fee. For example, you’ll pay $5 to order a pay-per-view movie from DirecTV by phone; HSBC requires you to pay $15 to make a credit card payment with a live agent. Especially when you’re already shelling out money for something, “to pay to talk to a human is a raw deal,” says Doug Heller of Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit advocacy group.

How to fight back: First try to do your business online, which is what firms want you to do anyway. If that doesn’t work, make the call. “The first tier or two of customer service isn’t going to be empowered to relieve you of the fees,” Heller says. So ask for a manager. Make a reasoned argument for why you need assistance. Note that you are a good customer who either is spending a lot of money (on a plane ticket, for example) or pays the company each and every month (for cable TV, say).

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