By George Hobica

airfarewatchdog.com

You've probably clipped cents-off coupons from your Sunday newspaper to buy stuff like toothpaste, but did you know that you can also use "coupon" deals to cut the cost of your next vacation?

Time to get on the promo code and "members only" bandwagon, frugal flyers. Recently, United Vacations offered a coupon code deal with $700 off vacation packages from the US to Canada, for two people traveling alone. Turns out there was some kind of glitch, and it also worked for one person traveling together. So you could have flown from San Francisco to Vancouver and stayed three nights in a four-star hotel, including air fare and all taxes, for about $98.

A similar deal on packages to the Bahamas from Florida recently worked out to--sit down for this--$0, including tax. And airfarewatchdog.com staffers have been able to combine those crazy 9 cent or $1 fares on Spirit Airlines with their frequent "50FF" and "35OFF" promo codes to get $50 or $35 off the total fare, again eliminating not just the airfare but also the taxes. Nothing beats flying for nothing.

So how do you get these deals? It's pretty easy, actually, but you're going to be getting a lot for email in your in box. When you sign up for the airlines' email newsletters and frequent flyer programs, they reward you by sending out special deals that only members can use. Often, they're in the form of a promo code that you plug into the airline's web site booking engine. Sometimes these deals are generic, such as Spirit's 50OFF deals, but in other instances they're individually generated so that only you can use them.

Oddly, airlines don't always make it easy to find their newsletter and frequent flyer sign up links. So that's why airfarewatchdog has put them all in two handy places: one for international airlines and one for domestic carriers.

As we said, yes, you'll get more email. But the savings will be well worth it.

By David Landsel

Airfarewatchdog.com

You’re paying to check your belongings, so why should other people’s excess baggage get a free ride?

That’s the question being asked by a growing number of travelers. As airlines look for new ways to boost revenue, fees for checked bags are on the rise; so is scrutiny of overweight customers whose baggage is built in.

It’s a touchy subject, Airfarewatchdog.com has found, and one that airlines have been happy to avoid discussing, where possible. As late as 2008, United Airlines wouldn’t even address the matter with us.

But an outcry among passengers, tired of their seatmates taking up more than their fair share of jealously-guarded seat space, is said to have played a role in the airlines’ new rules for transporting “customers of size.” Where a terse “we have no policy” was once the standard response, United adopted new regulations in 2009. Customers who were unable to confine themselves to one seat would be required to buy a second, should the crew be unable to reseat them.

It’s a policy that’s becoming increasingly commonplace.

To many, the idea seems simple enough – if you can’t fit into one seat, you should probably consider buying two.

It’s not simple at all. Canada’s government takes a dim view of the matter. In late 2008, the country’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling that prohibited airlines from charging the disabled or “obese” for a second seat, affecting Canadian flyers Air Canada and WestJet.  

Here in the United States, some airlines with upfront policies have spent their fair share of time in the courts. Southwest has long been famously transparent about its second seat rule, the one that United and many other airlines have emulated. The company has been sued more than once by disgruntled passengers.

“On the lawsuits, all have ruled on the side of Southwest,” spokesperson Whitney Eichinger points out.

Southwest’s policy is that those who cannot fit in one seat must buy two.  

“If the flight goes out with empty seats, Southwest will refund the cost of the additional seat,” Eichinger said.

Other airlines have had their share of legal trouble in this area.  

In the past, Air France warned passengers with what they referred to as “high body mass” not to expect to be seated if they have not purchased an extra seat. This is a warning that many airlines, even those who officially have tried to downplay any official policy, have long given to travelers.

Some travelers, however, don’t see the need. That, or the airline and the passenger disagree over what constitutes “need.” An Air France passenger traveling from New Delhi to Paris in 2006 sitting in a single seat was stopped by employees, who wrapped packing tape around him in public to prove that he was too fat. Citing humiliation, he sued, and won.

At the time, the airline had a program in place that offered passengers a second seat at a 25 percent discount, tax-free. It was a move that the airline had hoped would encourage customers to make arrangements in advance.

Recently, Air France made an update to the policy, bringing it more in line with Southwest’s policy, which has been around for decades. According to Air France spokesperson Karen Gillo, the second seat purchase is still optional. Now, however, the cost will be reimbursed if the flight is not fully booked.  

“It’s a way to encourage individuals to pre-plan to ensure their own comfort and safety; it allows them to travel with less stress,” she said.

Gillo stated that “for the mass majority of the cases, the flights aren’t fully booked” and passengers will be reimbursed.

Air France isn’t the only one making tweaks these days. JetBlue spokesman Mateo Lleras said the airline is currently working to refine its policy. And Spirit Airlines requires “customers of size” to buy two seats, period.

Currently, Lleras said, the airline does its best to accommodate customers free of charge. It will charge if it has to, but says that it approaches the matter on a “case by case basis.”

“We understand this is a sensitive issue,” he said. “Every time we can accommodate a customer we will.”

Let's face it. We've all done it. In part because travel can be so disorienting, it's easy to disembark a plane without all of our "personal belongings" as the flight attendants refer to them in their deplaning announcements (are there "impersonal belongings"? how about we just call them our belongings).

Judging from anecdotal evidence, most people do not get their stuff back. Leave it on the plane and it's gone forever.

But there are steps you can take to beat the odds.

The best strategy is to be proactive, and to act immediately. Should you discover your mistake before leaving the airport, rush back to the gate and see if the plane is still there. Explain the situation to a gate agent. Cleaners may already be on board, or may have collected your item and sent it to the airline's baggage office.

If you discover your loss after leaving the airport, immediately head back to the airport and inquire at the airline's baggage department. It's the single most effective step you can make, other than prevention.

Sure, you can call the baggage claim office, assuming you can find the number quickly, or you can file a report by email with some airlines, but it's far more effective to do so in person. Baggage office phone lines are often busy or go unanswered.

If this is not possible, here are contact methods to locate your missing item on various airlines.

Airtran: System Baggage Service — 1-866-AIR-CHAT (1-866-247-2428) Option #1 or for voice mail — 1-800-965-2107 x8900

Alaska Airlines: the airline requests that you fill out this form 

American: follow instructions here American

British Aiways: follow instructions here British Airways

Continental: follow instructions here Continental

Delta: follow instructions here Delta

JetBlue: You can send an email. jfklostandfound@jetblue.com would be the address for something left on a plane landing at New York’s JFK.  For other airports, substitute the three letter code for JFK (Salt Lake City would be SLClostandfound@jetblue.com).

Southwest: Contact the specific airport's baggage department. Click here and then click on “Airport Information” in the upper left hand navigation area. Scroll down to find baggage numbers and airport lost and found numbers.

United: Maintains a central number at 800-221-6903 or email web-baggage@united.com

US Airways: Your best bet is to call their central reservation number and ask for the number for the airport's baggage office, although you may not be able to get through to the office if they're busy: 800-428-4322.

For airlines not listed here, the best advice is to call the 800 number and ask for the number for the airport baggage office if you cannot immediately return to the airport.

Other tips:

We're not going to remind you to check carefully the area around your seat, in the overhead bin, and in the seat pocket in front of you. You've heard that a million times before and apparently it doesn't work.

Instead:

Never, ever place anything in the seat back pocket in the first place. Just pretend it's filled with sticky used napkins and chewing gum (which it probably is). This is the black hole of any airplane, the place where most items get left behind.

Organize all your easily lost items in a pouch that hangs from the airplane's tray table in front of you, using this handy item. Bright orange to remind you it's there, it includes a loop for hanging on the latch of the tray table. Of course, bright orange or not, there's no guarantee you won't leave the whole shooting match behind. So...

Get out your label machine and print out your phone number and "reward" on anything you can't afford to lose: cell phones, laptops, DVD players, cameras, etc.

Or for something more high-tech (albeit costlier) consider using tracer services, such as Tracer Tags, StuffBak, BoomerangIt, ImHonest, LostItemFound, and Trackitback.

These services provide labels with a tracking number and toll free number, offer an unspecified reward, include shipping back to you, but can be pricey. Trackitback, which claims an 85% retrieval rate (usually within 24 hours), charges $19.95 for lifetime coverage of one item, or $70 for 5 items.

Remember that if you paid for your item with an American Express card within the last 90 days and it is gone forever, they'll replace it as long as you have the original receipt (so keep those receipts)! There's a $1000 limit however. American Express Purchase Protection. Some Visa cards also offer this and do some Mastercards.

And for a real life story of how someone did get his laptop back after leaving it on a plane after having exited the airport, with some industry insider background, this is interesting.

By George Hobica

Airfarewatchdog.com

Business travelers are flying less. Teleconferencing is on the rise, as is the use of Web conferencing services such as GoToMeeting and WebEx as companies attempt to save money.

Newell Rubbermaid, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, cut its travel budget by 28% last year, and encourages employees to use videoconferencing instead of flying somewhere, and other US companies have cut travel 30-40%, estimates American Express Business Travel.

But as Ryan Bingham's boss discovers in the 2009 hit movie Up in the Air, some business missions are better accomplished in person (if you haven't seen the film, Bingham's job is to fire people for companies too chicken to do it themselves, and his boss decides that this can best be done via teleconferencing but later discovers that this isn't such a hot idea).

I, too, have found that if you really want to get something done, you have to do it in person. For example, I've been trying for years to gain the attention of an influential journalist who hadn't written about Airfarewatchdog.com. I had emailed this person, and sent media kits, and left messages, all to no avail. So I tried visiting in person and having a lunch. Yes, it cost money and time, but it was well worth the effort. A week later, the visit had accomplished its purpose.

How many careers have been launched at trade shows? What's the value of taking the measure of a potential business partner face-to-face rather than over the phone?

At Airfarewatchdog, we used to deal with our software programmers by email, instant message, and phone, in order to save costs. But I'm convinced that we wasted a lot of money, because our requests were often misunderstood, and it took more time doing it this way than sitting down with the programmers and literally drawing them a picture to get the enhancements done quickly and coherently. (Our programmers were based in Boise, and we are in New York, so travel would have been costly and time consuming, but given the chance to do it all over again, I would make the effort.)

When I was a freelance travel writer living in Boston, I tried in vain, by phone and email, to get assignments from magazines such as Travel and Leisure, based in New York. But once I started making desk appointments and meeting editors face to face, I never left without an article to write. Face to face works better than the alternatives.

My sincere belief is that although some business trips are unnecessary and some are fruitless, more revenue is being left on the table by ill-advised cuts in corporate travel budgets than is being saved by bean counters who encourage workers to stay home. This is a point made by British Airways, in their Face-to-Face campaign, which awarded 10 business class tickets to 100 companies in a recent contest, so that they could see first hand the benefits of a handshake.

If you make the effort to meet someone face to face, it speaks volumes, especially if, as is more and more the case, your competition is staying home.

By George Hobica

Airfarewatchdog.com

In what may be a sign of things to come, American Airlines has quietly announced "easier" same day standby policies, but what they fail to mention is that it appears you will no longer be able to do a non-confirmed same day standby.

Most US airlines have offered two same day standby options: if you want to take an earlier or later flight on the same day of your original flight, you can either pay for a confirmed seat (typically for a fee of $25 to $50), or you can take your chances and hope that there's a seat available without asking for a confirmed seat (the free option). But it appears that for fares bought after Feb. 22, 2010, only confirmed seats are available on American Airlines, for a fee of $50.

The alternate flights must be for your same itinerary and your flight change can only be confirmed within 12 hours of departure of the desired flight. This option is subject to availability of eligible seats. Also, American continues to offer the same-day option of standing by for an earlier or later domestic flight for certain customers (see below) at no charge. The new policy applies only to travel within and between the US and Canada.

So basically what's happened here is yet another fee "upgrade" and Airfarewatchdog wouldn't be surprised if other airlines will take note and change their policies as well, eliminating free same day standby where it exists.

The following American Airlines passengers may standby at no charge based on seat availability:

• Customers traveling within and between the U.S., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands or Canada with tickets purchased before February 22, 2010
• Customers who purchase unrestricted Economy Class fares (Y, B, H class of service)
• Customers who purchase Business or First Class tickets
• Active U.S. Military personnel traveling on orders or personal travel
• Active U.S. Military dependents traveling on orders
• American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum®, AAdvantage Platinum® or AAdvantage Gold® members
• oneworld® Alliance Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby members
• Customers flying on the same reservation as an American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum, AAdvantage Platinum or AAdvantage Gold member or oneworld Alliance Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby member regardless of frequent flier status or fare type
• AAirpass® members
• First and Business Class MileSAAver® Awards
• First, Business and Economy Class AAnytime® Awards

Airline policies differ

Some airlines still offer free same day flight changes on a standby basis. JetBlue, for example, makes a distinction between a same day flight change, for which it currently charges a fee of $40 to travel on a later or earlier flight in a confirmed seat, and same day standby travel; you may travel on an earlier flight only, at no charge, on a standby basis; if you want to get a confirmed seat on an earlier or later flight on the same day as your original reservation, then the charge kicks in. However, Southwest Airlines' official policy, which is sometimes waived by kindly personnel, is to charge the difference between what you originally paid for your discount fare and the then current last minute (walk up) fare when you request a same day flight change.

Currently, United, Continental, US Air and Delta allow both same day confirmed flight changes and no-fee same day standby. United charges $75 for confirmed same day changes.

And whatever the airlines' official policy, fees are sometimes waived, even for passengers without special status. For example, if your flight is overbooked and you've shown up for an earlier flight, airlines have an incentive to book you on the earlier flight with no fee.

By George Hobica

Airfarewatchdog.com

Is upgrading with miles a wild fare chase?

Thanks to new co-pays and rules, using your frequent flier miles to upgrade can be really confusing, impossible or not worthwhile. Confusing because the airlines have different rules, which seem to change at a whim; impossible because often there are no seats available for upgrading on popular routes, even if you plan months ahead; and not worthwhile because the major airlines often require that you buy one of their more expensive fares to be eligible and, to add to the insult, now levy expensive co-pays of up to $1000 round- trip, plus miles, to sit up front (that's in addition to the other frequent flyer fees they charge).

Even so, sometimes the effort is worthwhile. Last year, I flew from New York to Los Angeles, and thought it would be pleasant to fly business class on one of United’s PS (as in Premium Service) nonstop flights. Searching on Expedia.com, I discovered that these flights carry a premium price: at the time, about $2050 round-trip compared to Delta's $1500 business class fares. But I also discovered that I had 30,000 miles in my MileagePlus account, just enough for a round-trip upgrade, and, using a site called ExpertFlyer.com, identified which United flights were eligible for upgrade.

ExpertFlyer (membership starts at $4.99/month) works with several major airlines (regrettably, of the larger US carriers, only American and Delta, and no longer with United), which make their real-time upgrade inventory available to subscribers. The service allows you to figure out the lowest priced fare class eligible for upgrade, and shows which flights have upgradeable seats at that fare.

The cheapest economy fare on my dates of travel was an economy fare of about $230, but only a fare starting at $450 was upgradeable. Still, I preferred spending 30,000 miles for $1600 of value rather than 25,000 miles for $230 of value (the price of the cheapest economy fare).

But it’s not always that easy to snag an upgradeable seat at a reasonable fare. Over the last year or two, the major US-based airlines have been tinkering with their upgrade policies, changing mileage requirements, the eligible fare classes, and adding fees. Worse, they’ve been eliminating flights, reducing seat availability. Here’s an update of what to expect.

American

American levies a $100 round-trip co-pay plus 30,000 miles for non- Hawaiian domestic upgrades (half these amounts for one-way; all mileage requirements and co-pays in this article are based on round- trips); there is a $300 co-pay on Hawaiian routes. But virtually all American fare classes are eligible for upgrades. On international flights, most destinations require 50,000 miles plus $700 to upgrade from discounted economy fares (there are no co-pays from full fare economy fares). Fares booked in I, O and Q fare classes aren’t upgradeable for travel to Asia, Europe, India or South America; and those booked in I or O are ineligible for travel elsewhere as well.

Continental

Continental also requires co-pays, but allows all discounted fare classes to be upgraded, subject to inventory controls. Co-pays on flights offering BusinessFirst business class cabins (international flights and nonstops between Houston or Newark and Hawaii) range from $200 to $1000 round-trip; on flights where BusinessFirst isn’t offered, co-pays range from $100 to $300, although B, M, H, and K fare classes are exempt (as are Elite frequent flyer members).

Delta

Delta used to allow upgrades only on more expensive economy class fares, but they recently added less-expensive H, Q and K fare classes. However, other airlines generally offer more fare class choices, a situation mitigated only slightly by Delta’s 25,000 mile upgrades on non-Hawaiian domestic routes (compared to the 30,000 required by other airlines). The good thing about upgrading with miles on Delta is that there are no co-pays. But for international travel, only the more expensive, slightly discounted, B and M fares are available for upgrades.

United

Effective for award requests made on or after January 12, 2010, the good news is that upgrades on many routes required fewer miles and more fare classes will be eligible; the bad news is that you’ll have to fork over a co-pay of between $100 and $1000 (United had originally scheduled co-pays to kick in this past July, but had a change of heart). In the current (pre-Jan 12) scheme, on a flight from North America to international destinations you could only upgrade to business class from a fairly expensive M or H economy class fare for 60,000 miles, but with no co-pay. After January 12, that same trip can be upgraded from a much wider range of fare classes for just 40,000 miles, but with a co-pay of $500-$1000, depending on the fare class and destination. Prior to January 12 , fares booked in G class aren't upgradeable; for travel from North America, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Central America to all other destinations United serves, E, U, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K, and G fares are non-upgradeable.

On domestic US flights, starting in January, co-pays range from $100- $200 round-trip (when first announced, there was up to a $1000 co-pay for upgrading the cheapest fares to or from Hawaii, but United has backtracked on that ("we heard your feedback," they state on their web site) and now the co-pay is the same as for other domestic flights). But all fare classes will be upgradeable. So, while there’s greater flexibility, the co-pays may make upgrading an expensive proposition, assuming that seats, which are inventory controlled, are even available. And keep in mind that those name your own price fares you bought from Priceline are also ineligible.

US Airways

As of August 15, 2009, US Airways no longer required their Dividend Miles members to purchase a minimum fare (it had been $1400) to upgrade to business class. There’s currently no co-pay for domestic flights, even to Hawaii. For international travel, you pay 60,000 miles plus $600 ($800 to the Middle East). All fare classes are eligible for upgrade, but that doesn’t mean that all seats and flights have seats available.

Maybe you should just buy an upgrade?

So which airline should you earn miles on if you’re hoping to upgrade? Let’s not bring your frequent flyer status into the discussion, because that would complicate things beyond the scope of this article. The truth is, it’s a complicated question, because all the miles and co-pay cash in the world amount to nothing if there are no seats available for upgrades when and where you want to fly, or if the only fares eligible are so expensive that when you add a co-pay, you might as well just buy a discounted business class ticket. Which airlines have the most seats available for upgrades at the lowest possible fares? No one really knows (if the aforementioned ExpertFlyer.com worked with all airlines, we might have a fighting chance at stabbing a guess). But that’s the crux of the matter: what difference does it make how many miles you need, or what fare classes are eligible, or what the co-pays are, if the airlines, which are cutting flights and capacity in their premium cabins, really just want to sell you a business or first class seat and aren’t making enough available for upgrades? Basically, the only way to make sure you sit up front is to buy your way in.

By George Hobica

Airfarewatchdog.com

Now that many US-based airlines are charging co-pay fees for upgrading from economy class to business or first, and considering some of the other fees you'll now pay to use your frequent flyer miles (see chart), Airfarewatchdog suggests that you think twice if you're collecting most of your miles with a credit card. Sure, the bonus miles you can earn by applying for a new card can be tempting, as was the case recently when the British Airways Chase Visa Card offered an incredible 100,000 miles to new applicants, but once you've collected the come on bonus, take a second look at cash back credit cards.

The airlines do hand out hundreds of thousands of so-called “free” seats each year, it’s true. But if you’re earning frequent flyer miles with an airline-affiliated credit card, chances are you’re paying a hefty annual fee to the credit card company ($75-$100 is typical). And now there are new fees for cashing in frequent flyer miles and the old ones have been jacked up (See chart.) In addition to fees of up to $1,000 each way to upgrade to business class from the least expensive economy fares, you'll pay up to $250 to redeposit your miles should you change your travel plans, and US Airways charges up to $50 just to cash in your miles, not to mention up to $150 if you cash in miles close to your departure date. Plus, as anyone who was collecting miles with now-defunct Aloha Airlines can attest, your stash can go up in smoke if an airline stops flying.

True, some frequent flyer awards offer good value if the price you’d pay to buy the ticket is exorbitant (such as a first class international roundtrip that might cost $15,000 but can be had for 150,000 miles).

But if you’re like most people and you cash in your 25,000 miles for domestic flights costing $300, $400, $500, or even $600 round-trip, then miles earned with frequent flyer credit cards may just not be worth the hassle any longer.

Let’s look at $25,000 spent in various categories on what is arguably the best cash back rewards card available: The American Express Blue Cash Card, which has no annual fee. The Amex card pays 5% back on groceries, gas station purchases, and pharmacies, and an industry leading 1.25% on everything else, once you spend $6500 or more in a calendar year; there's no limit to what you can earn. Other cards, such as the Discover Cash Back Bonus Card, pay 5% back on a wider range of purchases, although do so on a rotating schedule (for example, the Discover Card in 2010 pays 5% thusly: airline, hotel, car rental, and cruise purchases from January to March; home and fashion purchases from April to June; gas, hotel and movie spending from July-September; and restaurants and fashion from October to December), but there may be a limit on how much 5% cash back you can get (you do earn 1% cash back on all other purchases, however).

As you can see from the chart a family could easily earn over $850 with the Amex card in a year,  assuming a spend of $200 a week on groceries, $3000 a year on gas, $1000 annually on drugstore/pharmacy purchases., and the rest of the $25,000 on other categories.

The nice thing about cash is that no airline is going to tell you that your money isn’t good here anymore, as they might with miles (ever try to use frequent flyer miles to Hawaii? Good luck).

There are no capacity controls on cash.

There are no fees for spending your cash on an airline fare.

There are no annual fees for your credit card.

And for $850, you can buy yourself a pretty fine airline ticket, even an international one, or even one to Maui.

Spend 25,000 miles on an airline frequent flyer credit card, in contrast, and to obtain and use those miles you’ve already paid up to $100 in credit card fees and and who knows how much in frequent flyer fees, so the cash earned from a no-fee cash back card looks even better.

Oh, sure, I know I’ll be hearing differing opinions from all the mileage mavens out there, and to repeat, there are tickets for which earning and spending frequent flyer miles make sense, such as international business and first class. But if you’re like the vast majority of Americans who don’t even own a passport and sit in the back of the plane, listen up: frequent flyer miles aren’t what they used to be. Take the cash instead.

By George Hobica Airfarewatchdog.com

What? You're still paying the airlines to lose-er, carry--your bags?
 
Now that the airlines have raised, yet again, their fees for checked bags, it’s time to take another look at the alternative: shipping your bags, or better yet (if you’re staying in one place once you arrive) just the contents of your bag ahead of your arrival using economical ground shipping services.
 
Why deal with the airlines, when UPS Ground and FedEx Ground offer better tracking, insurance and security, can be much cheaper in some scenarios, and will actually refund your shipping fee if there's a delay or loss? No waiting in line at the airport! No pilferage! No schlepping!
 
Airfarewatchdog.com has looked at four domestic route scenarios (short, medium, and long haul) and compared three shipping services and two airlines (one with high bag fees, and one with low fees) to see how much you can save by not entrusting your bags to the airlines.
 
As you can see from the chart, depending on route and method, the cost savings achieved from shipping vs. schlepping range from little or nothing to dramatic. But as we explain, even if costs are the same, dealing with a company like FedEx can be much less stressful than with an airline.
 
Consider: a single 25-pound suitcase or shipment from Boston to San Francisco by FedEx Ground costs about $31 vs. $23-$25 on Delta or nothing on Southwest.
 
But once that suitcase weighs over 50 pounds, excess charges kick in on the airlines, even on Southwest: you’d pay $56 for a 55-lb. bag using USPS on that same Boston-San Francisco trip, but twice that on Delta, which adds an extra $90 fee each way for bags weighing over 50 pounds. Even Southwest will charge you $50 each way.  
 
And if your bag is both heavy and oversized (larger than 61-62 linear inches), you’ll get hit with triple jeopardy on some airlines: a fee for the first bag, plus an overweight fee, plus an oversized fee. Such a bag might cost nearly $300 on Delta on a trip from Los Angeles to Seattle vs. under $40 via FedEx Ground.
 
Also of note: the typical 22-inch rolling suitcase weighs 9-10 lbs. and airlines will shun responsibility for what they consider “normal wear and tear” if the suitcase or its wheel mechanism is damaged in transit. If you’re staying in one place once you arrive, do you really need a suitcase at all? Put your clothes and other personal items in a sturdy box and you’ll pay ground shippers even less than the prices shown in our chart.
 
But even if the costs are the same airline vs. ground shipping, consider these advantages of shipping:

Better tracking:  You can track your shipment online step by step. Try that with an airline.

Safer: There’s less chance of something going missing or getting damaged.

Convenience: you can breeze through the airport without waiting in line to check bags.

Responsibility: If an airline loses or delays your bag, they’ll keep your fee and play the blame game. FedEx and UPS will at least refund your shipping fees. Plus, airlines refuse to take responsibility for losing or damaging anything they consider “valuable,” such as electronics or business items. You can insure these items with the shipping services for a small additional fee.

Less schlepping: True, you have to either drop off your shipment at a post office, UPS office or store, or FedEx or Kinko’s location (or you can arrange for pick up for a small fee in some cases), but let’s face it: fighting for overhead space is no fun, and lugging luggage through mile-long airport concourses is no fun either.

Clearly, we’ve only given examples for domestic shipping, but USPS Priority Mail rates for international shipping are surprisingly competitive with the airlines’ fees for checking bags on international routes.
 
And even if you’re the carry-on type, shipping on your next trip may reveal the joys of not fighting for overhead space and saving yourself a shoulder injury from hoisting a heavy bag into same.
 
Give shipping vs. checking a try next time you fly. You may never pay bag fees again.

by George Hobica

Airfarewatchdog.com

In addition to making frequent flyer miles harder to spend, airlines are expiring miles, if there's no activity in your account, faster than ever.

But one easy and painless way to make sure there's activity in your account is to do some online shopping using the airlines' "shopping malls." Even if you spend just a few bucks, you'll keep your miles safe for at least another year. And in addition, you can add some serious miles to your account.

For example if Continental is offering four miles for every dollar spent with the Apple Store, one of their shopping partners and you buy a $2500 iMac computer, you get 10,000 miles. That's a huge bonus. And there are often bonus offers on top of the bonus miles. United might offer an additional 2,000 miles if you spend over a certain amount.

Generally, these online shopping partners offer at least one mile per dollar spent, but sometimes they award 10 miles or more. And if you use your airline affiliated credit card, you get an extra mile, but the credit card miles pale in comparison to the shopping miles you can earn.

Scores of well known retailers participate in these airline malls, including Brooks Brothers, Circuit City, The Container Store, Dell Computer, Drugstore.com, Sears, Target, and Walmart, to name but a few.

Keep in mind that although the airline shopping sites listed below work with many of the same retailers, American might be offering 4 miles with a particular retailer while Delta could be offering just half that, so you've got to shop around while you're shopping around.

Links to airline shopping malls

Airtran

American

British Airways

Continental

Delta

Hawaiian Airlines

Midwest Airlines

Spirit Airlines

United

US Airways

Virgin America

And you may also find these shopping sites useful:

Marriott Rewards

Amtrak

By George Hobica Airfarewatchdog.com

When Martha Toomey's husband Oscar died last year, she happened to know the user name and password to his Delta frequent flyer account, and has been helping herself ever since to his 500,000-plus SkyMiles, which is why we've changed her name for the purposes of this article.

You see, what Martha is doing isn't strictly "legal." Posthumously, Oscar has sent his widow on a trip to Europe in business class and on several jaunts to visit her grandchildren in Boston. "I've just been pretending that he was still alive because I was afraid that I would either lose his miles or pay a big transfer fee," the Los Angeles-based retiree confesses. The "legal" way for her to use her late spouse's miles would be to fill in some paper work and request that the miles be transferred to her name as his heir, indeed perhaps paying a transfer fee with some airline programs.  

Most airlines do make it easy to transfer miles between the living, for a fee; but it's an expensive proposition, even when there are occasional transfer bonuses, sometimes as high as 100 percent. Plus, there are mileage transfer limits with these offers. United, for instance, allows any member to transfer between 5,000 and 15,000 miles per recipient per year for $0.015 per mile and a $35 fee. Only 60,000 miles can be transferred per year.  

And despite the fact that many airlines issue blanket statements in their rules that miles are not transferable, period, Airfarewatchdog has found that the airlines do in fact allow miles to be inherited, or to be awarded in a divorce settlement, and you'll get an entirely different answer from what you see on the airlines' web sites if you give a call to their frequent flyer service departments, as this chart shows.  

Take American for instance: their rules plainly state that miles "are not transferable upon death". Well that sounds pretty conclusive, right? Except then we read a few lines later that, "However, American Airlines, in its sole discretion, may credit accrued mileage to persons specifically identified in court approved divorce decrees and wills upon receipt of documentation satisfactory to American Airlines and upon payment of any applicable fees." So does that mean they fork over the miles or not? Turns out that if the AAdvantage account has fewer than 10,000 miles, there's no fee required (only proof of death is needed); if more than 10,000 miles, you'll pay a transfer fee of $50. Continental, in contrast, doesn't charge a fee for transferring miles to an heir.   

But why pay a fee and deal with the airlines at all?

Why not take the Toomey approach by pretending your deceased love one is still alive? Well, for one thing, this is against the rules, and if you're caught your miles will be forfeited. We're not suggesting you do this. We're just saying you could.  

But for those of you collecting miles in the future, if you'd like to avoid having to beg or pay for miles once a family member dies, there are two earning programs you should consider. One is the British Airways Executive Club, which allows you to set up a household account with up to four people living at the same address. Miles earned by one member are combined with those earned by the other three, and can be redeemed by any one of the four. BA lets you spend miles on American and other airlines.

The other option is the American Express Membership Rewards program. Here you can earn miles on about 20 US and foreign airlines. The points never expire as long as you keep them in your Amex account, and you transfer them to the airline frequent flyer program of your choice, where they become miles, as needed. If you and your spouse have a points-earning card for the same account, either Card Member has control of the points and can use them at will as long as the "primary" member authorizes another card member to use them. All it takes is a simple phone call; no fees, no paperwork.

Additional reporting by Andrea Bennett