Q. Is it true?! I understand there's some new law protecting passengers that are stranded on the runway.

A. There is. As of last month, passengers stranded on the runway for three hours or more are entitled to drinking water, air conditioning, clean lavatories, and other basic rights. The downside? Protection is currently limited to New York state airports. That may not seem like much of a win, but hey, it's a start.

And when departing from Europe,  you're much better protected under EU Passenger Rights, which provide monetary compensation (up to $900!) for excessively delayed flights. Yes, even to Americans.

Listen to our full story on American vs European Union Passenger Rights here on NPR.

Q. Is there a site that doesn't charge a booking fee? And how much are other sites charging on average?

A. Priceline does not charge, and most airline sites do not as well, except for US Air and Allegiant as far as I know. Keep in mind though that if your travel dates are flexible, you'll
have a better chance of finding a low fare on Travelocity, Cheapair, Cheaptickets, and Orbitz, because these sites have excellent flexible date search functionality. These sites do charge between $5 and $10, but if they save you many times that, it may be worth it.

Q. I ran across an entry in your "travel Q & A" section
titled "Avoiding the Coach Crunch". Considering your site is I think
intended to provide expert information on travel I was surprised to
read; "Currently, the only major airline that sells economy seats with
some extra leg room at no extra cost is JetBlue, which spaces the
seats at the back of the plane with a few extra inches" Being a travel expert and knowing that AA removed their extra room I assume you can't have missed the heavily advertised Economy Plus seating provided by United. They provide 36" of seat pitch in the forward 1/3rd of the economy cabin which is on average 3-4" more than other carriers economy. It is a huge difference to me for anything over 2 hours and is the trump card that has kept me loyal through their other troubles.
Did you really miss it or does Jet Blue somehow compensate you in a
way other airlines like United don't?

A. You're right, except that you have to be an upper tier frequent flyer
or you have to pay extra for Economy Plus. They have an annual program
for something like $300 a year where you get Economy Plus if no one else higher
on the pecking order has already bought seats (it's not guaranteed).

JetBlue doesn't charge for the extra room, and it's in all Airbus
planes. They actually did it, by the way, because they figured out
that they could eliminate one flight attendant by reducing the number
of seats. It wasn't primarily to give people more room.

And, for the record, United gives us a $6 commission for every flight booked through our affiliate link. JetBlue pays us $0. I find your implication a bit insulting.