Jul 31, 2008
Heard the news about Delta's doubling of the charge for a second suitcase checked aboard your flight?
And you heard it right: Delta Airlines has doubled the fee for checking a second suitcase onto one of its flights. They will now be charging not $25, but $50. And since that sum is for a one-way flight, you'll pay $100 for checking a second suitcase on a round-trip. Which means we're talking about real money. They have also increased the fee for checking a suitcase that weighs more than 50 pounds. If you check a suitcase weighing 51 to 70 pounds, and that's either a first suitcase or a second suitcase, you'll pay $90 each way on a domestic flight and $150 each way on an international flight.
So far, it's only Delta that has announced these heavy penalties, but these fees will undoubtedly be matched by the other carriers. Pack accordingly. Bring only one medium-size suitcase, and keep it light.
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So far, it's only Delta that has announced these heavy penalties, but these fees will undoubtedly be matched by the other carriers. Pack accordingly. Bring only one medium-size suitcase, and keep it light.
Write and read comments about this post.
Jun 3, 2008
Open an account with Commerce Bank, and you'll no longer pay ATM fees while traveling away from your home city
Been to an ATM machine recently? If it's not a member of your own bank or ATM system or network, you'll pay an increasingly hefty sum to use it, even for taking out as little as $20. The former $1 and $1.50 fees have virtually disappeared. Nowadays, it's common for an out-of-network ATM machine to charge a minimum of $2, and often $3 and even up to $4 per transaction. And if you're out-of-town (and especially overseas), and can't easily find an ATM machine belonging to your own bank or network, you'll pay those hefty fees every time you use an ATM machine, incurring a growing expense.
To the rescue comes: Commerce Bank. Commerce Bank is a fast-growing bank that's out to be recognized as America's most consumer-friendly bank. It charges no fee for using your ATM card, issued by them, at an out-of-network machine. And if, by chance, you are nevertheless charged such a sum, it will refund the amount when you return home and present your receipt to them.
On our radio program yesterday (noon to 2pm, www.wor710.com), my daughter Pauline and I discussed the reports we had heard that Commerce Bank charges no ATM fee. Within the hour, we received an e-mail from friend and colleague, travel writer Reid Bramblett (www.reidsguides.com), sent from Verona, Italy (where he is researching a travel article), and commenting on our discussion as follows:
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To the rescue comes: Commerce Bank. Commerce Bank is a fast-growing bank that's out to be recognized as America's most consumer-friendly bank. It charges no fee for using your ATM card, issued by them, at an out-of-network machine. And if, by chance, you are nevertheless charged such a sum, it will refund the amount when you return home and present your receipt to them.
On our radio program yesterday (noon to 2pm, www.wor710.com), my daughter Pauline and I discussed the reports we had heard that Commerce Bank charges no ATM fee. Within the hour, we received an e-mail from friend and colleague, travel writer Reid Bramblett (www.reidsguides.com), sent from Verona, Italy (where he is researching a travel article), and commenting on our discussion as follows:
I heard you guys mention something about Commerce Bank and the rumor regarding its ATM fees.For our readers who may not be familiar with Commerce Bank, it does business (and has branches) in the following states: New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, northern Virginia, District of Columbia, Florida, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, and Oklahoma. There may also be a way (I haven't done it) to open an online bank account with Commerce and thus obtain a Commerce ATM card. That's obviously a valuable card to have.
I am happy to confirm that it is absolutely true. This is a major reason I have been a loyal Commerce customer for nearly a decade now. They do not charge you to use out-of-network ATMs, regardless of whether than ATM is just a Citibank machine in Manhattan or a Banco Popolare di Milano machine in Milan, or an HBSC machine in Bangkok. Other banks charge between $1 and $4 to use out-of-network (and out-of-country) ATMs. Commerce doesn't nickel-and-dime you on anything like that. (And, since foreign banks have yet to hit upon the money-making scheme of tacking on a few extra bucks for using an out-of-network card, you don't get charged a fee from their end, either.)
Between my Commerce ATM card not charging me fees (or greedy extra percentage points for the foreign exchange process) and my Capital One Visa card not adding on any fees beyond Visa's 1% for foreign transactions (and they use the actual best published exchange rate; I've checked using my own statements and the rates from Oanda's historical currency convertor), I have the most financially streamlined way of spending money on the road.
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May 1, 2008
Are you ready for this? A British airline is imposing a fee for using a check-in counter rather than a computer
In its relentless drive to find additional sources of income without raising ticket prices, Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) has now imposed a penalty for checking in at the airport. Instead of walking to the check-in counter and using the time of a live employee, you are supposed to check in over the internet before leaving home. Otherwise, you incur an extra charge of several British pounds.
But how can you check a piece of luggage onto the flight without approaching a live person at the check-in counter? Ah, there's the rub. The only people able to avoid the check-in penalty are those who do not plan to check luggage onto the flight.
If you do plan to check luggage (and there's a Ryanair charge even for a single suitcase), you will automatically also incur the added check-in penalty. The British have apparently accepted this predicament.
So who is it that's able to fly on Ryanair without incurring hefty, duplicate fees? It's people who check in for the flight over the internet, and then board the flight with carry-on luggage (under 22 pounds) only. A business traveler flying back and forth to a destination in one day, and carrying only a briefcase, flies cheap. A backpacker with his gear in a knapsack slung over the shoulder, flies cheap. The person able to embark on a lengthy vacation with only a piece of hand luggage weighing less than 22 pounds and capable of going in the overhead rack, flies cheap.
And I wouldn't take bets against the same rules being adopted by our hungrier airlines in the United States.
There's some opposition to the new Ryanair rules, but it mainly takes the form of humor. One person, in a British website, has suggested that there be a fee for the rental of seat belts, or of life preservers found under the seat. Another has advised locking the toilet doors and affixing a slot for coins to open the door.
But serious advice is also available. For several trips now, I've limited myself to a tiny, roll-aboard, carry-on suitcase in which I'm barely able to fit a single change of clothing and a few toiletries -- and I've survived, survived well, and am anxious to continue that policy of ultra-light-packing in the future.
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But how can you check a piece of luggage onto the flight without approaching a live person at the check-in counter? Ah, there's the rub. The only people able to avoid the check-in penalty are those who do not plan to check luggage onto the flight.
If you do plan to check luggage (and there's a Ryanair charge even for a single suitcase), you will automatically also incur the added check-in penalty. The British have apparently accepted this predicament.
So who is it that's able to fly on Ryanair without incurring hefty, duplicate fees? It's people who check in for the flight over the internet, and then board the flight with carry-on luggage (under 22 pounds) only. A business traveler flying back and forth to a destination in one day, and carrying only a briefcase, flies cheap. A backpacker with his gear in a knapsack slung over the shoulder, flies cheap. The person able to embark on a lengthy vacation with only a piece of hand luggage weighing less than 22 pounds and capable of going in the overhead rack, flies cheap.
And I wouldn't take bets against the same rules being adopted by our hungrier airlines in the United States.
There's some opposition to the new Ryanair rules, but it mainly takes the form of humor. One person, in a British website, has suggested that there be a fee for the rental of seat belts, or of life preservers found under the seat. Another has advised locking the toilet doors and affixing a slot for coins to open the door.
But serious advice is also available. For several trips now, I've limited myself to a tiny, roll-aboard, carry-on suitcase in which I'm barely able to fit a single change of clothing and a few toiletries -- and I've survived, survived well, and am anxious to continue that policy of ultra-light-packing in the future.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: airlines, fees, packing
Apr 30, 2008
American Airlines has adopted United's fees for checking a second suitcase, dashing hopes that United's policy might be overturned
OK, it's official: American Airlines has just joined several mainly-smaller carriers (and United Airlines) in charging $25 each way for every piece of luggage in excess of one. This means all other U.S. carriers will now join the meanies and impose this substantial extra charge on suffering travelers ($50 for the second piece on a round-trip itinerary).
And you know what? The penalty may persuade a lot of misguided people to pack lightly on their next trip -- to their advantage. In Europe a month ago, I saw a great many middle-aged and elderly Americans each pulling two giant suitcases per person through Amsterdam airport. They were bringing that much because they feared looking ill-dressed or under-dressed by the few other Americans with whom they'd be traveling on a river cruise. They would undoubtedly later return home with suitcases of unused clothing.
On your own next trip, try under-packing. Bring one decent outfit for dressy occasions, one outfit for standard touring, and maybe a third outfit to be alternated with the second. The same with underwear. By simply accepting the prospect of periodically washing out clothing, underwear or socks using Woolite sprinkled into a bathroom sink, you'll transform your trip into a free-spirited, unburdened, light-hearted act of happy travel. There is nothing so pleasant as arriving at an airport with only a single small bag, gaining in that fashion the opportunity to take public transportation into town, winning your freedom from porters and taxicabs, avoiding the necessity to spend a full hour packing or unpacking every time you change a location.
Light packing is among the two or three basic keys to smart travel, an effective way to insure the enjoyment of your trip.
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And you know what? The penalty may persuade a lot of misguided people to pack lightly on their next trip -- to their advantage. In Europe a month ago, I saw a great many middle-aged and elderly Americans each pulling two giant suitcases per person through Amsterdam airport. They were bringing that much because they feared looking ill-dressed or under-dressed by the few other Americans with whom they'd be traveling on a river cruise. They would undoubtedly later return home with suitcases of unused clothing.
On your own next trip, try under-packing. Bring one decent outfit for dressy occasions, one outfit for standard touring, and maybe a third outfit to be alternated with the second. The same with underwear. By simply accepting the prospect of periodically washing out clothing, underwear or socks using Woolite sprinkled into a bathroom sink, you'll transform your trip into a free-spirited, unburdened, light-hearted act of happy travel. There is nothing so pleasant as arriving at an airport with only a single small bag, gaining in that fashion the opportunity to take public transportation into town, winning your freedom from porters and taxicabs, avoiding the necessity to spend a full hour packing or unpacking every time you change a location.
Light packing is among the two or three basic keys to smart travel, an effective way to insure the enjoyment of your trip.
Write and read comments about this post.
Apr 28, 2008
Despite high fuel costs, Royal Caribbean has just announced the highest first quarter profits in its history. What does that tell you?
Remember the anguished pleas of the cruise lines a few months ago, about the need for substantial fuel surcharges? Remember how this blog multiplied the fuel surcharge by the number of passengers aboard an average sailing, and was astonished at how much further revenue resulted from the surcharge? Remember how we hinted that perhaps the cruise lines were asking too much?
Royal Caribbean Cruises has just announced the highest first-quarter profits in its history. According to Richard Fain, its chairman and CEO: "We delivered the highest first-quarter yields in our company's history, with significant improvement in ticket prices and continued healthy onboard spending." The actual rise in earnings was seven times the profits of the same quarter a year ago. (They really needed that fuel surcharge).
(You may want to compare Fain's comments to those by executives of Mobil Oil. After deploring the sad necessity for increasing prices, the oil company recently announced an historic $11 billion profit in one three-month period.)
The State of Florida has recently accused some cruise lines of conspiring to jointly set fuel surcharges. Other states may wish to look into the matter.
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Royal Caribbean Cruises has just announced the highest first-quarter profits in its history. According to Richard Fain, its chairman and CEO: "We delivered the highest first-quarter yields in our company's history, with significant improvement in ticket prices and continued healthy onboard spending." The actual rise in earnings was seven times the profits of the same quarter a year ago. (They really needed that fuel surcharge).
(You may want to compare Fain's comments to those by executives of Mobil Oil. After deploring the sad necessity for increasing prices, the oil company recently announced an historic $11 billion profit in one three-month period.)
The State of Florida has recently accused some cruise lines of conspiring to jointly set fuel surcharges. Other states may wish to look into the matter.
Write and read comments about this post.
Feb 7, 2008
United Airline's decision to charge $25 for the second suitcase checked per flight, is the best thing that's happened to travelers in years
We all take too much clothing and other paraphernalia when we travel. We pack every conceivable outfit for every possible occasion and end up devoting half our time to laboriously packing and unpacking multiple suitcases. We become beasts of burden, sweating that luggage into a taxicab, dragging it up stairs and down, paying for porters to carry it. And we discover at the end of the trip that we haven't used 80% of the items we've packed. We have dragged around two heavy cases of unworn, useless apparel.
They travel best who travel light. There is no better travel sensation than the joy of moving from place to place in carefree fashion, with one small suitcase lightly packed. That's why I think -- contrary to the reactions of others -- that this week's decision by United Airlines to charge $25 for a second checked suitcase every time you fly (and $50 if you lug that second suitcase round-trip) is a good thing. It will create happier travelers.
The new policy will undoubtedly be adopted by other airlines; it will bring them a considerable amount of additional income. If what it also does is persuade the smart traveler to travel light, to limit their luggage to one small suitcase, then it will set off a spasm of travel happiness. People will learn they are happier when they travel light, that they become light-hearted and carefree, that they avoid porters and taxicabs, that they are able to shop around when it comes to choosing a hotel; that they need not collapse in sweat at the first lodging they see.
So to all you greedy, fee-charging, profit-hungry execs at United Airlines: thank you.
Write and read comments about this post.
They travel best who travel light. There is no better travel sensation than the joy of moving from place to place in carefree fashion, with one small suitcase lightly packed. That's why I think -- contrary to the reactions of others -- that this week's decision by United Airlines to charge $25 for a second checked suitcase every time you fly (and $50 if you lug that second suitcase round-trip) is a good thing. It will create happier travelers.
The new policy will undoubtedly be adopted by other airlines; it will bring them a considerable amount of additional income. If what it also does is persuade the smart traveler to travel light, to limit their luggage to one small suitcase, then it will set off a spasm of travel happiness. People will learn they are happier when they travel light, that they become light-hearted and carefree, that they avoid porters and taxicabs, that they are able to shop around when it comes to choosing a hotel; that they need not collapse in sweat at the first lodging they see.
So to all you greedy, fee-charging, profit-hungry execs at United Airlines: thank you.
Write and read comments about this post.
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
