In just three months, U.S. Airlines raked in $1.4 billion in fees for checked baggage and ticket changes. For many travelers those fees can be an expensive annoyance, but one caused a whole lot of trouble in the life of a Sonoma County woman.

This woman's story sounds like a movie plot. In fact, she compared her plight to the Tom Hanks movie, "The Terminal," when an unforeseen problem left her stranded in the last place she would ever expect.

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