In an effort to save money on airfare, I once waited until the eleventh hour to book our family’s annual flight to Hawaii. My intent was to score a last-minute deal that could potentially save me hundreds of dollars. It turned out to be one of the worst travel-related mistakes of my life. Not only did I not get a rock-bottom price on the tickets, but because I waited so long to book, I got stuck with an antsy toddler smack in the middle of a five-seat row surrounded by perturbed passengers who suggested my daughter and I would be … Continue reading →

Forget about sky-high luggage fees and consider the priceless commodity you risk when you take flight these days—your health. Most travelers are quick to calculate airfare, hotel accommodations, rental cars and souvenir expenses, but neglect to factor in the toll eating overpriced airline food may have on their health. According to a new survey, most airlines don’t offer food items that do a body good; though, some are better than others. According to the poll featuring 10 North American airlines, Air Canada and Virgin America top the list of healthiest in-flight food. Both carriers scored high marks for their healthy, … Continue reading →

Just when you thought commercial carriers couldn’t possibly penalize your pocketbook any more with their exorbitant baggage fees, Spirit Airlines just announced it plans to charge passengers $100 for carry-ons. Fortunately, there are ways you can avoid being hit with this outrageous fee. Beginning November 6th, Spirit will slap passengers with the 100-buck fee if they wait until they get to the boarding gate to pay. If you fly the discount airline and pay before getting to the airport, you will save a substantial amount of money. Here’s how you can avoid being hit with the sky-high baggage surcharge: Option … Continue reading →

Stupid airline fees. Or, stupid you for paying them? According to the CEO of a popular no-frills airline, passengers shouldn’t complain about having to fork over fees for certain services because in most cases the payment could be avoided if they weren’t so “stupid.” Last month, the outspoken CEO of European discount carrier Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, called a female passenger “stupid” after she took to social media complaining about a hefty fee charge. In August, Suzy McLeod of Berkshire, England, was charged 300 euro (roughly $400) for failing to print her family’s boarding passes prior to their flight from Alicante, … Continue reading →

As if finding cheap airfare wasn’t hard enough, some carriers are now making the job even more challenging. Online travel aggregate sites, such as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity are designed to allow travelers to compare airfare prices without having to spend hours visiting dozens of individual airline webpages. The popular online travel agencies provide the convenience of one-stop shopping for customers, but charge the carriers commissions of roughly $10 to $25 a ticket which they say eat into their profit margins. Unfortunately, more and more airlines are looking to get out of the aggregate site line-up. For example, earlier this … Continue reading →

Talk about a gate crasher. If there were gold medals given to travelers who could get by increased security at airports on high alert during the London 2012 Olympics, then a cheeky 11-year-old boy would be wearing some major hardware around his neck right now. Instead, the only things that are circling Liam Corcoran’s neck is his mother’s hands. Last week, the boy made international headlines when he managed to slip through security and fly from Britain’s Manchester Airport to Rome without a passport or a boarding pass. So, how does a kid walk through more than one airport security … Continue reading →