I got an email that ours are going up to $180 this year (no family rate); isn't that a lot? The past TWO years it was "just" $100.

In my shul in Boca Raton, a seat is included with membership.

But I'm going to be in NYC, so I've bought a seat for $125.

Wow. Do they have a well know chazzan or something, or is that just a regular shul?
Wow, if it's that good a business I should get a fake beard, a kittel and a tallis and organize yom tov davening in my living room.

I understand shuls need money but personally I find it repugnant to charge people to come daven. I would never pay for seats nor davven in a shul that charged for it.
The minhag where I live is to charge only if someone wants a specific seat. Otherwise it's wide open.

It depends on context: What are annual dues other than high holiday seats?

I know it's our shul's major fundraiser for the year, but still ... yes, we have a chazzan but not a fancy chazzan. I would pay it - I need a place to daven - but it definitely means less money left for other things.

Ahem,
although it offends some peoples delicate sensibilities that *gasp* they are being charged to daven, they should ask themselves how synagogues are supposed to pay all their expenses throughout the year. Unfortunately you cant go to the electric company and tell them 'well we're not doing so well so how about doing a mitzva and not charging us. Now if someone who really couldnt afford tickets offered to clean, vaccum the synagogue, then i suppose that could be acceptable but I have never seen anyone do this.
Unfortunately in this age Chabad, Aish, etc. who do great work in inviting people to meals, and having low to no cost programming; theres developed quite an extensive 'shnorer' phenomenon where people have an expectation to not contribute monetarily to religion.
Needing tickets to be allowed in is IMO excessive and scroogish - however charging for seats is quite acceptable.

Yes, Natanel, but $180 each! With no family plan? When other shuls are charging $75 and $100 - unless they, too, have gone up since last year.

If there's like 10 people in your family the yeah 1800$ is really expensive. However do you have to pay a membership fee for the year? Because if you were part of a gym it would cost at least 180$ a year.
I guess you can talk to the management and try to come to some compromise, however if you have been going to the shul all year I dont' think it would be right to go to another cheaper shul for RH.

They are supposed to pay for those things with dues and fundraising and contributions. If those things don't cover the expenses then maybe they should think about cutting expenses. If the shul overhead is such that it will necessitate doing things that discourage people from doing mitzvos then maybe the overhead is the problem, not the revenue.
Why stop at holiday seats?
Maybe there should be a charge to say kaddish on a yahrzeit. Maybe a siddur or chumash rental fee every time someone uses one. Maybe congregants should be charged for the divrei Torah they hear from the rabbi.
There is no end to it.

I'm davening at this shul for almost 4 years, but the yomtov crowd isn't always the around the year crowd. I sponsor the kiddush several times a year for birthdays,l yortzeits, etc., but can't if the prices continue to rise . That's just the reality of life.

However you put it, fundraising, contributions etc. generally means a few well-off members shouldering the vast amount of the financial burden which doesnt seem to be quite in line with your bonified hard-core republican values.
Yes, many shuls could do well on cutting expenses; but the oilem shouldn NOT think that they have an intrinsic right to getting everything for free without contributing at all.
I cant count the number of times Ive seen people who come all year, take part in all the activities throughout the year but then get angry that they're expected to have to buy a seat for RH.
As I said, if you really cant afford it, thers other ways in which to contribute.

So don't sponsor the kiddushes?

a birthday i could understand not sponsoring for, but what do you suggest i do for my father's yortzeit, then?

saying kaddish in shul? fasting? lighting a yahrtzeit lamp? learning torah in his memory? speaking well of him? visiting his kever?
davka donating to the shul is perhaps a marketing ploy.

so go to the other shuls.

I dont know what the word "bonified" means. I dont see this as a Republican issue but nowadays who knows.
Anyway, in every organization the people with the most money generally contribute the most support. Nothing new there.
And who is talking about getting everything for free? Only you. They could auction aliyas (a practice I like). They could stage an appeal. All kinds of things.
But making a blanket pay-to-pray policy is just imo wrong.