Virgin America has added yet another city to their growing roster. This time up, it's Chicago O'Hare! Look for service to begin May 25 from both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

VA's intro fares start at $99 each way for travel from May 25 through September 6. Book by 11:59pm PT, February 21. Fares include:

San Francisco to Chicago $198 round-trip

Los Angeles to Chicago $198 round-trip

Las Vegas to Chicago $238 round-trip  

San Diego to Chicago $238 round-trip

Seattle to Chicago $238 round-trip 

Fly from Pittsburgh to Phoenix for $173 round-trip, including all taxes, on Continental. This fare is valid for travel any ol' day of the week, with a 330 day window, and no minimum stay. Screenshot via Orbitz.

From Singapore Airlines, save on late winter/spring travel to Southeast Asia, with 26 destinations going for $949 round-trip, including all taxes, or just hang tight in Singapore for $899 round-trip, including all taxes. Offer is valid for departures from March 1 through May 18 from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, and New York.

All purchases must be made by March 2, exclusively at SingaporeAir.com. Sale fares do not accrue miles. Route/Date changes permitted for a $20 in addition to fare difference, if applicable.

In addition to Singapore, destinations include Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Surabaya, Balikpapan, Palembang, Manila, Cebu, Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Bali, Lombak, Jakarta, Manado, Manado, Medan, Solo City, Yangon, Kuching, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Saigon, Hanoi, Da Nang.

Yes, it's true. Fly New York to Stockholm this spring for $150 round-trip, including all taxes. This fare is good for travel on select dates from February through April.

You'll find similarly low low low fares from other departure cities, with a number of destinations in Europe also going for peanuts, for travel through April. Why so low? Forgotten fuel surcharge maybe? Who knows? Who cares? Just book a ticket already!

While it seems that most of the time airlines are busy raising checked baggage fees or adding more restrictions to drive their clientele mad. In rare instances they actually do like to throw their customers a bone.

In another effort to improve it's SkyMiles program Delta Airlines has announced that it is now the only major U.S. carrier without mileage expiration. Quoting the email I just received from the carrier:

"You now can earn miles without worrying if and when they will expire as we have eliminated our mileage expiration policy - no asterisk, no fine print, no ifs, ands or buts."

Previously, SkyMiles would expire 24 months after a flier's last qualifying mileage activity. For most Delta SkyMiles frequent fliers this won't have much of an impact but for those who fly less often or use different carriers from time to time, it's a nice gesture. Let's hope other U.S. carriers follow the lead, eliminating last minute jaunts just to save expiring miles or buying items from airlines sponsored shopping sites in order to keep your account active.

Airline baggage fees got you down? Afraid your luggage will get lost, stolen or damaged? Then why not discover the joys of shipping luggage ahead using economical ground shipping services?

By shipping your belongings ahead of your arrival by 4 or 5 days, you can save money in some scenarios. But in all cases, you'll enjoy better shipment tracking than the airlines can offer, plus better security. And, of course, you can breeze through the airport without waiting in ever-increasing lines to check in your bags with the airlines.

Below, a chart comparing shipments of varying weights and sizes sent over routes of varying length on the three major shipping companies compared with an airline with relatively high bag fees and one with low or no bag fees. As you can see, shipping charges compare favorably with lugging your own luggage.

Note: these fees are all for one-way travel or shipment. Frequent flyers with status, first and business class customers, and certain other categories of customers may be exempt from some or all of these fees.

Starting April 5, American Eagle will begin new service to Los Angeles. Introductory fares to, from, and -as seen below- connecting via Los Angeles start at $54 each way, for travel from April 5 through May 25, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Seats are limited and may not be available on all dates/on all flights.

Tickets must be purchased at least 21 days prior to departure, or within 1 day of making reservations, whichever comes first.

Fares include:

Fresno to Phoenix $152 round-trip

Sacramento to Tucson $246 round-trip

San Jose to San Diego $114 round-trip

El Paso to Fresno $204 round-trip

Boise to Tucson $192 round-trip

Albuquerque to Fresno $204 round-trip

El Paso to Monterey $204 round-trip

Phoenix to Santa Barbara $122 round-trip

Tucson to Monterey $268 round-trip

Sacramento to Santa Barbara $134 round-trip

Airfares to China and Japan have been quite high recently, but now there's some relief thanks to a fare war going on between Delta, American, Continental and United. Fares to Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing can now be had from almost any U.S. airport for under $700 round-trip including taxes for outbound travel through the end of March. You can can up to one month on these fares, and a seven-day advance purchase is required. It looks like these deals will expire on February 18, 2011.

Here are the fares to:

Tokyo

Shanghai

Beijing  

Fly from Atlanta to Shanghai for $677 round-trip, including all taxes, as part of the current China & Japan Sale from American Airlnes. Valid 7 days a week (though fares may not be available for travel on all dates). Good for departures through March 21. Complete travel by April 30.

You'll find this fare available from many other cities as well (give or take $20), including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas...

For a complete list, please visit our fare page for Shanghai.

By George Hobica

Airfarewatchdog.com

Now, more than ever, upgrading to a more comfortable seat when you fly can be a trip-saver. It can be surprisingly cheap to either get an economy class seat with more legroom, a wider seat, or even a seat in business or first class without paying full freight. Here are seven ways to help make your next flight more comfortable.

1. Buy a seat with extra legroom. JetBlue, Delta, US Airways, United and other airlines will sell you a few extra inches of legroom at the front of the economy cabin or at exit rows for a reasonable upgrade fee. We think this is money well spent. JetBlue charges as little as $10 extra for seats with 38 inches between rows, and has more leg room (34 inches between rows, rather than the 31-32 inches typical on some airlines)'even if you don't pay more. But, don't fall for money-stealing schemes like US Airways', American's, Continental's and Delta's effort to charge for "special" seats towards the front. Unless they are bulkhead or exit rows, these seats have zero extra benefits other than exiting the plane first. United's Economy Plus seating (offered on all flights except those flown by EMB-145s and CRJ-200s of United Express) is a different story. On Delta's international aircraft flying long-haul routes, a new Economy Comfort section is being installed offering an additional four inches of leg room and up to 50% more recline than before. These seats are at the front of the economy cabin and also receive complimentary alcoholic drinks (all other economy passengers are limited to beer and wine).

2. Buy a cheap business class seat on a discounter. Air Tran and Spirit sell wider, roomier business class seats (ideal if you're a "wider" passenger), for far less than most other airlines. Air Tran will let you upgrade to business from any fare at the airport on a first-come, first served basis for $49-$129 per flight segment (that's one take off and one landing), or from higher economy fares in advance (whether this product will survive the merger with Southwest is anyone's guess); Spirit calls their business class "the Big Front Seat" and fares are often less than other airlines' economy fares, especially if you're a member of their $9 Fare Club.

Virgin America offers last minute upgrades (6 hours before flight time) to its luxe first class cabin for between $70 and $270 each way depending on the length of the flight, and also sells a Main Cabin Select product for between $35 and $160 each way depending on the length of the flight, which features six extra inches of leg room and one free bag although it is the same seat as economy. US Airways has a similar program called "GoUpgrades" allowing passengers to upgrade from economy class to first for $50 to $500 each way, depending on flight length, 24 hours or fewer before flight time. You can upgrade by phone or at the airport, and international flights are included. See this chart for more details about these and other programs. And United has long had its Economy Plus option, offering "up to 5 extra inches of legroom" in coach, starting at $9 per flight for shorter hops and going up to, say, $209 each way on a LA to Tokyo flight. There's also a $425 per year "annual option" giving you unlimited upgrades to the roomier seats, subject to availability of course. Remember that with the merger between United and Continental, some flights may be operated by aircraft without Economy Plus. Other airlines may offer spontaneous upgrades for bargain prices at the airport, so be sure to ask about them at check in. You never know what you might snag.

3. Look for Y-UP and Q-UP fares. These full-fare economy class fares, for domestic travel only, can be upgraded for free to business or first class, but they're not dirt cheap, aren't fully refundable and come with other restrictions. Buy them online, by phone from your airline, or through travel agents. Be aware that they often appear as first class fares on search engines, which fail to sort out the lack of flexibility these fares offer (they would also price out as very expensive economy tickets with immediate upgrades to first class but zero change ability). Another caveat, if your flight is canceled or delayed and you are moved to another flight with a full first class cabin, your ticket may be treated as economy class, losing the upgrade.

4. Choose planes with more legroom. Not all aircraft are created equal. Check out the "seat pitch" data at Seatguru.com and book on an aircraft on which seat rows are spaced further apart. Doing so can earn you as much as five inches of extra legroom. Remember that aircraft are constantly going under the knife with airlines like United and Delta adding extra legroom to the first few rows of economy like crazy on international aircraft (certain Boeing B757, 767, 747, 777, and Airbus A330s).

5. Buy international business and first class from consolidators. Ticket sellers such as 1stair.net and planetamex.com sell premium cabin fares at considerable discounts.

6. Use miles to upgrade. This is one of the highest-value ways you can spend your miles. Upgrading a $400 fare on United from New York to LA to a $2000 business class fare for 30,000 miles is a better deal than spending those miles on a $400 fare. Unfortunately, many airlines now charge miles plus cash to upgrade (see chart.)

7. Be loyal. Upper-tier frequent flyer program members get free upgrades, priority access to exit row seating at no charge, and other perks on many airlines, so stick with one airline, fly frequently, and attain "premier" or "elite" status with one of the alliances. Chances are most of your travel will be on a partner carrier of one of the three major alliances.