Get Ready for Increased Air Fares

There are rumblings in the airlines about raising air fare to match the rising cost of fuel. The fees they are charging (see chart on previous blog post) are not even coming close to cover the cost. All the major airlines are scrambling to stay afloat and it seems that flights and routes are being cut faster than the speed of sound. It won't be long before air travel is out of reach for most everyone. The airlines are also the next industry that will make cuts to their workforce. Pretty soon, there will be more TSA agents working than pilots.

Airline Fees Chart

I found this and thought it would be helpful.

Airline Fees are a fact of life (hastened by $130/barrel oil), it is important that everyone take into account airline fees while shopping for airfare. To that end we have compiled a comparison list of U.S. domestic airline fees. Fees are changing rapidly and we’ll do our best to keep the chart up to date.

updated 24-Jun-2008

	Reservation by Phone (per person)	1st Checked Bag Fee (each-way)	2nd Checked Bag Fee (each-way)
American	$20	$15	$25
Continental	$15	Free	$25
Delta	$25	Free	$25
Northwest	$15	Free	$25
United	$25	$15	$25
US Airways	$25 - $35	$15	$25
AirTran	$10	Free	$10 - $20 5
Alaska	$15	Free	$25
Frontier	$15	Free	$25
JetBlue	$15	Free	$20
Southwest	Free	Free	Free (3+ $25)
Spirit	$20	$10	$20 - $25 5
Midwest	$10	Free	Free (3+ $100)
Hawaiian	$10-30	Free	$25
Go	Free	Free	Free
ExpressJet	Free	Free	Free
Virgin America	$10	Free	$25
Allegiant	$10 - $15 ea/way	$10 - $20 5	$10 - $20 5
Sun Country	$10	Free	$25

	Beverage/Snack Packet	Meal	Alcohol	Oversize Bag Fee (each-way)
American	Free/none	$3 - $10	$6	$150
Continental	Free	Free 2	$5	$100
Delta	Free	$4 - $10	$5 - $6	$150
Northwest	Free	$7 - $10		$100
United	Free	$5 - $7 3	$6	$100
US Airways	$2 bev/none	$5 - $7	$7	$100
AirTran	Free	None	$6	$29 - $69
Alaska	Free	$5	$5	$50 - $75
Frontier	Free	$3	$5	$75
JetBlue	Free	None	$5	$75
Southwest	Free ($3 Energy)	None	$4	$50
Spirit	$2 - $4	$5		$100 - $150
Midwest	Free (Cookie)	$6 - $11	$5	$80
Hawaiian	Free			$160 - $360
Go	Free	None		$25
ExpressJet	Free	Free	$1 - $3	$50
Virgin America	Free	$6 - $8	$5 - $6	$50
Allegiant	$2-$4	LAS-only $5	$5	may apply
Sun Country	Free	Free	$5	$60

	Travel w/ Pets (each-way)	Unaccompanied Minors (per flight)	Curbside Check-In
American	$100 - $150	$100	Free
Continental	$95	$75 - $100	Free
Delta	$100 - 200	$100	$3
Northwest	$80 - $359	$75 - $100	$2
United	$100 - $200	$99	$2
US Airways	$100	$100	$2
AirTran	$65	$39	Free
Alaska	$100	$75	$2
Frontier	$100 - $200	$40	n/a
JetBlue	$100	$75	$2
Southwest	No Pets	Free	Free
Spirit	$75	$75	$2
Midwest	$100	$50	Free
Hawaiian	$35 - $175	$35 - $95	n/a
Go	$25	$25	n/a
ExpressJet	$50	$50	n/a
Virgin America	$100	$75	n/a
Allegiant	$75	$75	n/a
Sun Country	$75	$50	n/a

	Seat Selection / Priority / Leg Room	Non-Refundable Ticket Change Fee	Overweight Bag Fee (each-way)
American	None	$150	$50 - $100
Continental	None	$150	$50
Delta	None	$100	$80 - $150
Northwest	$5 - $35	$100	$50
United	$14 - $109	$150	$100
US Airways	$5 - $30	$150	$50 - $100
AirTran	$6 - $20	$50	$29 - $69
Alaska	None	$50 - $75	$50
Frontier	None	$100	$75
JetBlue	$10 - $30	$100	$50 - $100
Southwest	$10 - $30 1	Free	$25 - $50
Spirit	$5 - $15	$100	$100 - $150
Midwest	None	$100	$50 - $65
Hawaiian	None	$150	$50
Go	None	$20	$25-50
ExpressJet	None	$50	$50
Virgin America	$15 - $50	$75	$50 - $100
Allegiant	$11 - $13	$50	may apply
Sun Country		$75 - $100	$60

Hidden Hotel Fees

I just read an article about hidden hotel fees. I think we've all become accustomed to accepting that the mini bar is not free. However, in this article the author stated that when he booked from one of the online travel services that it stated that there was a cleaning fee. He was quite surprised to find out is was $166 after he got his bill when he returned home. Buyer beware-know exactly what the charges are ahead of time before making the reservation so you won't have an unpleasant surprise like this. Without stating what the cleaning fee was, they could have charged $10,000. Luckily, he got this situation resolved and had most of his money refunded. Save yourself the hassle, use a credit card vs. debit card to add an extra layer of protection by having the right to dispute it and ask for specifics before you commit.

What is Bonnaroo?

Ok, so I might be one of the few that don't know about this summer music festival. As I was driving through the lovely Tennessee mountains this weekend, traffic came to a crawl around the Manchester area. When it started to ease up, I saw a sea of tents as far as the eye could see. I wondered what it was. The friend I was visiting didn't know what it was either. Ironically, when I got home the pilot had some co-workers over from that area and filled me in. If you're interested, you can Google the word "Bonnaroo" and get all kinds of information.

So I got to thinking about when I was at a great summer festival years and years ago in Birminham, AL called City Stages. It just happened to be this weekend, too. It's much more than the $20 I paid for a weekend full of great music with big name stars, but still quite reasonable if you get your tickets early. If you're interested in other music festivals around the country this summer, I dug up this article from MSNBC. Click here to read.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Our family takes an annual two-week vacation to Greece every year to visit family. We just got back. This year I fussed and considered not going-too much to do to be away for so long. Luckily the pilot did not listen. As we had our daily walks on the beaches of the Aegean Sea, I kept thinking that I sure liked the Tracy that visited Greece and not the one that existed in the United States the other fifty weeks of the year. All the stress of making ends meet and doing the work that paid the bills vs. the work that fed the soul takes its toll. Now to figure out how to bring that peace home and make it last until I get my batteries recharged next year. Only fifty more weeks to go! Any suggestions?

Don't Forget Take Out the Batteries

As we're getting ready for our annual trip to Greece, we're busy taking the batteries out of all the electronic gadgets we're taking. The pilot related an embarrassing incident when one of the flight attendant's bags was set aside and waiting with the rest of the crew's bags. When the crew went to get their bags and board the van to the hotel, there was something buzzing inside of her bag. Save yourself the inconvenience of dead batteries and embarrassment by taking batteries out before you pack anything away. Now we just have to worry about being overweight with our bags.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo marks the celebration of victory of the Mexican Army over the French in the Battle of Puebla. Ironically, it's a celebrated more widely in the United States than in Mexico. As a matter of fact, the pilot was in Mexico last year during that time. He said there was no celebration. When he asked about it, they told him that only it was a holiday for the gringos.

Most Americans also think it's the equivalent of Independance Day (July 4) and Bastille Day (French) on July 15. Mexico celebrates its independence day on September 16th.

Whatever way you choose to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, just don't go to Mexico for it (unless you're in Pueblo). Ole!