Want to avoid paying extra fees when flying?

Greetings,

Have you had a chance to go to the airport lately?

If your planning on air travel being part of your travel plans, you may be in for a surprise, especially if you pack like my Debbie does.

The airlines have found a new revenue stream, charging extra for baggage, and it can climb fairly quickly.  You’ll be paying for any excess weight or extra bags you take along this time.

Depending on which airline you choose, your going to need to budget extra money, here are a couple of examples…

Alaska Airlines - $15 for the first bag and $25 for the second.

Delta – First one is free, second is $50.

Northwest - First one is free, second is $50.

US Airways – Better plan ahead, if you pay for it in advance its $15 but if you wait until your vacation, add another $5.

Think you can just carry on that extra bag like we used to? Forget about it… Now the TSA is helping the airlines by limiting the number of carry on’s allowed.

So what to do? Here are a couple of common sense things.

•       Do you really need to bring 17 different outfits?  Once we brought 4 suitcases to go on a beach vacation, all we wore was our bathing suits and tank tops…
•       Wear a sport coat / jacket on the plane to save room & weight in your bags.
•       Cut back on the toiletries.  You can get travel size lotions and potions now, or just transfer your favorites into smaller bottles.  Don’t forget to put everything into a zip lock bag.
•       Put your luggage on a scale at home, most airlines draw the line at 50 pounds per bag. You don’t want to have to go thru stuff at the counter then try to figure out where to put all that stuff to get under the limit.
•       Take advantage of frequent flyer programs, some airlines will wave fees for their cardholders, Ask about these discounts. Also if your active military, they are now waiving fees since they got bad press for changing military returning from overseas.
•       Sometimes airlines run specials that waive extra fees, remember that if you don’t ask, you won’t get it.
•       You can use the hotels laundry services instead of bringing more clothing. Many hotels now even have washers and dryers available if you want to save money
•       Check with your travel agent, hotels are hurting for business and many will reimburse for baggage fees, again you have to ask to receive.
•        If you must have to have something heavy, try mailing it to your destination.  While you may have to pay a little more, you can count on your stuff being there when you get there (have you ever had to stand in line when you bag didn’t show up?).

There are still some airlines that don’t charge for bags, like JetBlue and Southwest.  I know that for us we'll try to book our flights on these if we have to fly, personally I'd rather drive. (If you haven't read our posting on Naked body scanners, you'll want to read that one before you fly)

Hope these tips help, enjoy your travel.

All the best,

Lou & Debbie

Would you go thru a naked body scanner?

Greetings,
Are you planning on flying in the near future?  
I had to go to Dallas not long ago but did not have to deal with this issue.
I know that I don't even like getting x-ray's, so why would I submit myself to something like this?
Whenever something like this makes the news, it makes me wonder -why do we allow them do this to us?
Do you feel any safer now that they are installing these? 
I know I don't!


Let us know you thoughts.


All the best


Lou & Debbie 

TSA Admits Bungling of Airport Body-Scanner Radiation Tests

• By David Kravets 
• March 15, 2011

The Transportation Security Administration is re-analyzing the radiation levels of X-ray body scanners installed in airports nationwide, after testing produced dramatically higher-than-expected results.

The TSA, which has deployed at least 500 body scanners to at least 78 airports, said Tuesday the machines meet all safety standards and would remain in operation despite a “calculation error” in safety studies. The flawed results showed radiation levels 10 times higher than expected.

At least one flier group, the Association for Airline Passenger Rights, is urging the government to stop using the $180,000 machines that produce a virtual-nude image of the body until new tests are concluded in May.

“Airline passengers have enough concerns about flying — including numerous ones about how TSA conducts its haphazard security screenings — so it is TSA’s responsibility to ensure passengers are not being exposed to unhealthy amounts of radiation,” Brandon Macsata, executive director of the group, said in a statement.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center has been a loud voice opposing the machines. Last week, it urged a federal appeals court to stop using them until further health studies were conducted. Marc Rotenberg, EPIC’s executive director, is expected to tell the same thing to a congressional panel Wednesday.

“The agency should have conducted a public rule-making so that these risks could have been more carefully assessed,” (.pdf) according to a transcript of his expected testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Still, the government said the results proved the safety of the devices.

“It would appear that the emissions are 10 times higher. We understand it as a calculation error,” TSA spokesman Sarah Horowitz said in a telephone interview.

The snafu involves tests conducted on the roughly 250 backscatter X-ray machines produced by Rapiscan of Los Angeles, which has a contract to deliver another 250 machines at a cost of about $180,000 each. About 250 millimeter-wave technology machines produced by L-3 Communications of New York were not part of the bungled results.

Rapiscan technicians in the field are required to test radiation levels 10 times in a row, and divide by 10 to produce an average radiation measurement. Often, the testers failed to divide results by 10, Horowitz said.

“Certainly, the errors are not acceptable. It’s not every report. We believe the technology is safe,” she said.  ”We’ve done extensive, independent testing. It doesn’t raise alarms in terms of safety.”

Rapiscan, in a letter to the TSA, admitted the mistake and is “redesigning the form” used by its “field service engineers” when surveying the Rapiscan Secure 1000 that is deployed to 38 airports.

“Oftentimes, the FSE will bypass the step of dividing by 10. While the resulting entry, at a pragmatic level, is understandable on its face and usable for monitoring purposes, the value, if read literally by persons unfamiliar with our system and the survey process, would imply energy outputs that are unachievable by the Secure 1000 Single Pose,” (.pdf) Rapiscan wrote.

A recent Wired.com three-part series examined the constitutionality,effectiveness and health concerns of the scanners, which the TSA mandated as the preferred airport screening method in February 2009. Among other things, the Wired.com series concluded that there was discord among the scientific community about the scanners’ health risks to humans, and that they were not tested with mice or other biological samples before being deployed.

The government, however, maintains a thousand screenings equal the amount of radiation of one standard medical chest X-ray.

A federal appeals court hearing EPIC’s lawsuit suggested last week it wasnot likely to halt the scanners’ use.