by Wendy Perrin

I'm hoping some of you might have a trick up your sleeve that reader Mamaro could put to use at the airport tomorrow:

"Five of us are flying from Hartford to Detroit on Wednesday," writes Mamaro. "Monday and Tuesday of this week, the flight was canceled due to aircraft maintenance. Any ideas? Should I still print our boarding passes today? Will it make things better or worse tomorrow if our flight is canceled? Suggestions welcome."

Me and the kids at EWR right after passing through security, Feb 14, 2008.

by Wendy Perrin

The next few days--specifically, tomorrow and Sunday--are among the most hated of the year for those of us navigating airports.  The good news, though, is that we'll see less congestion than we've seen the past few Thanksgivings. Compared to last year there's a 10 percent drop in passengers and flights--3,000 fewer domestic flights per day, in fact.

Thanks to those family lanes the T.S.A. has set up at every security checkpoint in the country, security lines should be easier too. At least, easier for those passengers without kids who can use the regular lanes. Personally, I'm dreading having to use the presumably much slower family lane when I take the kids to Barcelona on Friday.  Now that the boys and I have the security checkpoint thing down to a precision military drill, we'll be stuck in the line for all the inexperienced fliers struggling with strollers and bottles and toddlers in lace-up shoes, not to mention the passengers carrying medically necessary liquids, aerosols, and gels in excess of 3 ounces. Yikes.

My biggest tips for flying this weekend are the same as for any other weekend:

by Wendy Perrin

Continental Airlines announced yesterday that it is waiving baggage fees for Continental Chase credit card and debit card holders for the first piece of luggage they check. This means a savings of $15 each way. Since passengers who are traveling with--and listed in the same reservation as--the primary cardmember also get their fees waived, this apparently means I've just saved $120 off my next trip: Since my family of four is flying, and each is checking a suitcase, I'll save $60 each way, for a total of $120. That's more than the annual fee ($85) for the card!

Watch out for other airline-affiliated credit cards to come out with similar perks for their cardmembers. And if I run into any hidden snag at the airport check-in counter, I'll be sure to let you know!

by Wendy Perrin

Funny, just hours after warning earlier today that "many European low-fare airlines charge a lot of extra fees you can't always predict, including fees for luggage," I get this email from reader Kate Reeves:

"My husband and I just had the experience of flying Ryanair from Knock (in west Ireland) to Bristol in England.  The tickets were listed as about 15 Euros.  Then there were a great number of add-on fees, such as departure fees, airport taxes, and such, to the extent the tickets actually cost approximately $180 apiece.

To add insult to injury, my husband had to pay $160 for his suitcase because it was 'overweight' by Ryanair standards.  It weighed 48 pounds--under the weight mandated by international carriers--however Ryanair does not allow checked baggage over 33 pounds (15 kilograms). And they only allow ONE carry-on, which means if a woman has a purse, that's her one carry-on.

Ryanair was definitely NOT a cheap airline.  We would have been really put out except we had been warned about this by English friends, so we had no one to blame but ourselves."

by Wendy Perrin

An excellent question has come in from Reader Descloud. I'm hoping that some of you international road warriors can weigh in on this one:

"We are traveling to Rome, Vilnius, and Prague in March 2009. We have our transatlantic airline tickets but not our air travel from Rome to Vilnius to Prague. Two questions: (1) Booked through Continental, our transatlantic journey includes four carriers (Virgin, Alitalia, KLM, Continental). Do paper tickets still exist, and should we have one for this multi-carrier trip? (2) I am finding the best rates for the FCO-VNO-PRG legs on carriers unknown to us: AirBaltic, SkyEurope, etc. Are these carriers safe and reliable, or should we spend more to book with a carrier such as Lufthansa? Thanks."

First, I see no need for a paper ticket, as long as you carry your record locator number for each flight. (Never leave home without a printed itinerary containing every record locator.) But I'd love to hear from anyone who disagrees.

Second, your decision whether or not to trust AirBaltic (the Latvian national airline), SkyEurope (a low-cost carrier based in Bratislava, Slovakia), and the like should depend on several factors:

by Wendy Perrin

The country's best airline on domestic routes is Virgin America. That's the determination by the nearly 33,000 readers of Conde Nast Traveler who voted in our Readers' Choice Awards this year. If you need to fly to any of the seven cities it serves (San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., San Diego, Seattle, and Las Vegas), it's clearly the airline to try.

Interestingly, the only "Big Six" legacy carrier that ranks among the Best U.S. Airlines (oxymoronic category, dontcha think?) is Continental, which came in #8. Here are the Top Ten airlines on domestic routes:

Pam Mandel of Nerd's Eye View shot this pic during AA's "unscheduled landing" on Monday.

by Wendy Perrin

Don't miss Pam Mandel's first-hand account of what it was like to be on American Airlines flight 268 from Seattle to JFK on Monday. You might have read about the flight on Today in the Sky yesterday: It's the plane that had an electrical failure, was diverted to Chicago, and landed on the grass at O'Hare. 

Pam and I were supposed to have dinner together in NYC that very night, actually. By the time she finally made it into midtown Manhattan, however, it was 10 p.m. and too late: We were both due at Conde Nast Traveler's World Savers Congress bright and early the next morning. So we met up at 7:30 a.m. at the Congress instead . . . which was the reason Pam had flown to NYC in the first place: to twitter the Congress from start to finish. She did an amazing job too.  More on the WSC tomorrow.

by Wendy Perrin

Another excellent question has come in, this time from reader Reeves007:

"I have an Alitalia ticket, bought with my Alitalia frequent-flier miles, from Italy to Cairo in January 2009. With the way things are going right now with Alitalia, should I have them rebook it on their partner Air France? They would charge a fee of 50 euros and that is it. What do you think: Rebook on Air France now, or wait it out?"

Personally, if it were me, I'd rebook on Air France now, while there are seats still available on the flight you want.  But I'm eager for other readers to weigh in on this one. What do you think Reeves007 should do?

by Wendy Perrin

Remember last week we were brainstorming ideas for what airline fees might be next on the horizon?  Well, I just came out of a meeting at my office where somebody mentioned how much he liked last week's musical-parody video about out-of-control fees. He suggested a new idea so twisted I just have to share it:

Remember how in the video if you want your seat to recline you have to pop a coin into the slot? Well, the passenger sitting behind you could be alllowed to pony up even more if he wants your seat to remain in the upright position. The airlines could run bidding wars between the people who want to recline and the people who want to avoid a seatback traytable shoved in their face.

The day may not be far off, folks!

by Wendy Perrin

So I recently joined Twitter and discovered a community of global travelers (as well as assorted journalists, techies, big thinkers, etc.) who use it to connect with each other throughout the day, sharing up-to-the-minute info and tips. Since Twitter messages must be 140 characters or less, though, people need to write tight.  Yesterday I posed this question to the group:  If you were an airline, what's the next type of fee you'd start charging?  Here are a few of the replies:

From Nerd's Eye View: "Time for some CEO salary cuts? Because seriously, what's left? A boarding fee? A check-in fee? An overhead storage-space fee?"

From AshevilleTravel: "Bathroom? (oh dear!)  Hate to sent it into the universe, but they could charge for desirable seats (front of plane, window)."  Actually, some airlines are already doing that.

From Delicious Baby: "I always thought they should rent the CARES harness, but I bet they're worried more people would check the car seats if they did."

From Jaunted: "I would get wifi installed asap. It's something that passengers actually want--and didn't get for free before."

What do you think the next airline fee will be? You can find a list of current fees here.

And if you'd like to "follow"--in other words, talk to--me on Twitter, my user name is wendyperrin.

by Wendy Perrin

A burning question has come in from ritzsk8er. Northwest/KLM apparently owes her reimbursement it won't pay:

"I hope you can help us. Our flight KLM #643 AMS to JFK was cancelled due to mechanical aircraft malfunction on 6/23/08. Both the EU policy and NWA/KLM policy provide for cash reimbursement (600 EU) in the event of flight cancellation without prior notice. We wrote a letter to both KLM (Peter Hartman, President) and Beth Reed (NWA Customer Care) asking for compensation as outlined in KLM Compensation and Assistance Policy booklet page 5 section 2.1). Beth Reed emailed both of us saying that NWA/KLM is denying cash payment which would appear to be a violation of their own corporate policy. (instead NWA/KLM has offered a $250 voucher good for one year which we will not be able to use). Can you assist us in persuading NWA/KLM to make the payment to each of us that we are entitled to. I have letters, pictures of the plane attempting to be fixed, our original flight details and plane tickets which I will gladly forward to you.  Thank you. Stephanie Ritzert/Tom Bellingham"

Arrrrggh. Have you contacted the E.U.'s air passenger rights help desk? You can phone 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (the European toll-free help line), send an email to tren-aprights@ec.europa.eu, or fax a letter to 32 2 299 10 15 (in Brussels). 

You should also write to Conde Nast Traveler's Ombudsman column--which, unfortunately, doesn't respond to email (double aaarrrgh. You'd think that if the E.U. can handle it the Ombudsman could too). The snail mail address: 4 Times Square, New York, N.Y. 10036. Include all your correspondence with NWA/KLM and other docs (incl. photos). I'll stop by the Ombudsman's office and tell him to be on the lookout for your letter.

Does anyone else have advice?

Whistler has great skiing in summer, but if you fly there carrying your own skis, you'll likely need to pay at least $50 in fees.
Photo: Randy Lincks, Whistler Blackcomb 

by Wendy Perrin

Every major U.S. airline has just begun, or is about to begin, charging $25 each time you check a second bag. But should that fee--which amounts to $50 round-trip--apply to travelers who bought their tickets before the fee existed? 

A friend who is an expert skier who coaches kids is traveling with a group of 57 to their annual ski racing camp at Whistler in July. For this group--which consists of 3 other coaches, 14 high-school/college-aged counselors, and 40 kids age 9 through 13--luggage is a major factor: The campers each must bring two pairs of skis, plus the coaches and counselors carry another 35 to 40 pairs of next year's skis for testing, plus 400 pounds of gear including racing gates, timing systems, etc.

The group is flying from JFK to Seattle, then bussing up to Whistler. In February when they bought their tickets, Delta's policy was that you could check two 50-pound bags for free (and pay extra for any excess weight). With Delta's recent policy change, however, now each camper will be charged at least $50 round-trip, if not $160 round-trip (since the fee to check a bag weighing between 50 and 70 pounds is $80 each way, and a camper's second bag can easily exceed 50 pounds). The camp is not a commercial venture--nobody is getting paid or making a profit--so the teachers will now get stuck with an enormous extra bill.

Let's hope Silverjet sticks around.
Photo: Silverjet

by Wendy Perrin

I was bummed to read on Tripso.com that Eos, the plush all-business-class airline that flew between New York (JFK) and London (Stansted) and seemed to offer an all-too-rare stress-free experience at JFK, declared bankruptcy and ceased flying over the weekend. It's the second all-business-class airline flying between New York and London to shut down within the past few months; MaxJet, you may recall, declared bankruptcy and folded last December. Silverjet is now the only all-business-class airline flying between New York (EWR) and London (Luton) and seems to offer an all-too-rare stress-free experience at Newark. It has offered Eos passengers access to a limited number of seats on its New York-London route for the same price as their Eos ticket. British Airways is also helping out Eos passengers with reduced fares.

So how safe a bet is it that Silverjet will still be flying a few months from now? The folks at Silverjet say that, while its competitors had to slash prices dramatically in order to compete with the legacy airlines, Silverjet has been able to raise its fares 20 percent since it launched 15 months ago. It also says that its passenger numbers were 23 percent higher in March than in February and that one in four Silverjet passengers are now repeat customers.

Still, with airlines going bankrupt right and left, if you're planning to take advantage of any fare sales offered on Silverjet, be sure to pay with a credit card . . . so you can get your money back, just in case. Good to know that, should Silverjet go belly up, British Airways would most likely step in and help out passengers (of course, B.A. would be a main reason why Silverjet went belly up in the first place).

An article in the Washington Post on Tuesday discussed how the Environmental Protection Agency wants U.S. airlines to upgrade their drinking water. "The EPA and the airlines said there is no documented evidence of anyone becoming sick from airline drinking water," the article pointed out. "Still, regulators say the water has to meet federal mandates."  Some flight attendants have had gastrointestinal problems as a consequence of washing their hands or drinking the water onboard.

I'm curious: Have any of you ever gotten sick from drinking water on a plane (or so you think)? Personally, I'm not so concerned about water on flights within the U.S. It's on those flights between foreign countries--the ones where the tap water in the lavatory is labeled "not potable"--that I've found myself wondering whether the water and ice served by the flight attendants were safe. (I'm not talking about when they pour water from an Evian bottle; I'm talking about when they pour it from a pitcher. And I'm not talking about flying between London and Paris; I'm talking about flying within, say, Africa.)

My tip for when you're concerned that a plane's water may not be safe: When the drinks cart arrives, avoid tea and coffee (since these may be made with tap water that was not quite fully boiled), and opt for a can of carbonated water.

Let your child phone his imaginary friends with the TV remote. :) That's my four-year-old on a flight to Spain, Feb. 2008.

by Wendy Perrin

Yesterday's USA Today reported that "air travel is slower than at any time in the past two decades. . . . Congestion on the ground and in the sky is adding more than an hour to some routes as planes take longer to taxi and fly to their destinations. . . . Airlines are building extra time into their schedules, adding as much as 50% to expected flight times."

All that extra time we get to spend on planes is particularly enjoyable for parents of young children. Since this week the blogosphere has been big on games you can play with your travel companions--over at Vagabondish, Amanda Kendle offered up 5 Games for the Road: How to Pass the Time with Nothing but Your Fellow Travelers for Entertainment, and Debbie over at DeliciousBaby shared her tips for Surviving Flight Delays With Kids by engaging in imaginative play and thinking games for which no toys or electronics are required--I figure I oughta join the club. So here are my top ten tips for child-friendly games you can play on an airplane that take up zero space in your carry-on:

(10) If your child can read, play the "Find the city" game using the airline route map in the magazine in the seat pocket in front of you.

(9) Child can't read yet? Take out the aircraft safety card--it has lots of pictures--and play "Find the red X's," followed by "Find the yellow swim floaties," "Find the giant slide," etc. This is good for learning the alphabet too: "Find the A" (as in Airbus), "Find the B" (as in Boeing), "Find the C" (as in "EmergenCy Exit").