EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT AIRLINE FEES BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK

Here is the perfect list that puts together all the fees that the airlines now charge their customers.

One click to:
http://www.swabiz.com/travel_center/pod_chart.html
and you can see what each airline charges for everything from making a reservation by phone to checking in oversized baggage.

Here’s how you can pay $702 in fees on your next $120 flight from Omaha to Chicago.

If you looked at the chart above at all the fees, you can see how crazy they are. To illustrate, I thought I would build a hypothetical flight to go golfing in Chicago taking my golf clubs on the trip. The cheapest airfare is a bargain for about $120 roundtrip. Now come the extras. First, lets assume you check in two bags each way ($15 for the 1st and $50 for the 2nd = $65 each way = $130 total); select a special seat assignment ($25 each way = $50); have a meal ($5 each way = $10); enjoy a drink ($6 each = $12) plus add $125 each way ($250 total) for an oversized bag (golf clubs) and add $125 each way ($250 total) for one of your bags being over 50 pounds. Add all those fees up and you could actually pay an extra $702 in fees (585%) to fly the friendly skies. Maybe in the future the airlines should give away seats if you pay all the fees.

INFORMATION ON AIRLINE TRAVEL

This year I have been doing a lot of traveling so I have come to appreciate the problems with airline travel. If you are traveling you might be interested in the following.

American Airlines says there is no such thing as a free upgrade –
The airlines are milking this high fuel cost situation for all they can get. A few days ago American Airlines said that you can no longer use your frequent flyer miles alone to upgrade from coach to business or first class. In the future they will require 15,000 miles plus $50 to upgrade on domestic flights and a whopping $700 RT plus upwards of 25,000 miles to upgrade internationally. Looks like there is no free lunch anymore as far as using AA frequent flyer miles to upgrade.

Good news for travelers taking computer laptops -
Business travelers will no longer be required to remove their laptops from their carry-on luggage under new rules announced recently by TSA. Now travelers with laptops will be able to open up their computer case and lay it flat on the X-ray belt. If your bag cannot be opened and laid flat then travelers will still have to remove the computer from the case. This new rule should dramatically speed up security screening time at most U.S. airports.

Here is an easy way to find out how long the security lines are at the airport –
The Transportation Security Administration keeps track of how much time it takes to clear security at all airports in the U.S. For example, if you are departing on Southwest Airlines (concourse B) from the Omaha airport on a Monday morning and arrive between 6am and 7am, you will find an average wait in line of 15 minutes with a maximum wait in line of 21 minutes. This is a great way to find out how early you need to arrive at the airport prior to your flight. Check out their web site at http://waittime.tsa.dhs.gov/index.html.

COST TO FLY

This has been a busy travel year for me. I estimate that I have logged over 40,000 miles. That is a lot of sitting in airports. I was interested in the new report that just came out from a recent airline industry on the cost per mile.

The airline industry study found that the price of flying this year has increased 7.5% in July compared to one year ago. The average price of 15.7 cents a mile represents the average price paid by flyers for all flights (short and long haul, business and leisure travelers).