The 5 'F-Words' for Travelers -- Fees, Feds, Fuel and More

Feb. 23, 2012 — -- Welcome to a traveler's guide to the ultimate in expletives: the five biggest F-words and the latest outrages provoking each utterance. Plus, a bonus blasphemy at the end for pet owners.

For more travelnews and insights view Rick's blog at farecompare.com.

F-Word No. 1: 'Fees'

You saw this one coming. Now a couple of new reasons to use "fee" as a curse word.

JetBlue Hikes Bag Fee: This airline has a lot going for it, including a new-look website and its popular "first checked bag is free" policy. However, if you plan to haul a second suitcase on your summer vacation flight with JetBlue, you'll pay an extra $80 round-trip for the privilege.

Yes, the carrier upped its second checked-bag fee, but here's the thing: Airlines can and do fiddle with fees all the time and they do not publicize these changes. Be sure you know what your airline charges or risk a nasty surprise.

Spirit's New Fee: Speaking of nasty surprises, notice those jaw-droppingly low prices on Spirit? Not so fast! The carrier, one of the few domestic airlines that is actually expanding, now charges anywhere from $20 to $45 for a carry-on. Plus, Spirit has a new fee, its $2 "unintended consequences" fee, which is the airline's response to recent government regulations regarding new fare-disclosure regulations, that 24-hour money-back guarantee and, well, you get the picture.

United's New Pet Fees: You can now wind up paying well beyond $3,000 round-trip to transport a dog or a cat on some of United's international flights because of a pet policy change that now classifies the animals as cargo instead of checked baggage. U.S. military folks and their families in Japan are going nuts because of to a Japanese-mandated law requiring another hefty cargo fee that United tacks on. If Fifi's flying to Fukuoka, open that wallet.

F-Word No. 2: 'Feds'

By "feds," I mean TSA officers, of course, who continue from time to time to confound the public with their security rituals. There was a lot of buzz recently about a woman who claimed she was subjected to multiple X-ray screenings because she was "cute," but she also said she never complained to the TSA, which noted it is not its policy to do multiple screenings.

Still, some believe we need a passenger advocate at security checkpoints and there is proposed legislation that would include that.

Is an advocate necessary? I posed that question to TSA spokesman Greg Soule.

Soule said the TSA doesn't comment on pending legislation but he mentioned the "TSA Cares Hotline" (toll-free at 1-855-787-2227).

"When a passenger with a disability or medical condition calls TSA Cares," said Soule, "a representative will provide assistance, either with information about screening that is relevant to the passenger's specific disability or medical condition, or the passenger may be referred to disability experts at TSA."

By the way, sometimes the feds are our friends. I can think of no better example than the recently enacted regulations that force airlines and others to include all those mandatory taxes and fees in advertised airfares prices. Our friends at Spirit are not crazy about this new transparency mainly because it's meant the end of their eyeball-catching $9 fares.

F-Word No. 3: 'Flights'

Okay, what I really mean is delayed flights. But, surprise, surprise, the airlines are doing better. In fact, the most recent statistics from December 2011 show U.S. carriers had their best month for on-time departures in the entire 17-year period since the Department of Transportation (DOT) began keeping these records.

If you're keeping score, the best on-time airlines for December were AirTran, Hawaiian and Delta. The worst were Frontier, ExpressJet and Continental.

F-Word No. 4: 'First'

Here's a scenario: You've got a busting-at-the-seams carry-on (or maybe you're even trying to sneak on two) plus an overcoat, a laptop and a venti latte. If only you could board "first" and hog all the bin space, but there are too many smug-looking passengers ahead of you.

Don't be a hater. Learn how to be first in line, yourself. Fly more to make elite status (easier said than done). Or try an airline-branded credit card, especially if you can write off the sometimes steep annual fee.

You can always buy a better spot in line. According to American's website, its Group 1 Boarding deal is only $9, which is even cheaper than Southwest's cut-in-line deal.

F-Word No. 5: 'Fuel'

No dancing around this F-word. Oil prices zooming to $105 per barrel is one big reason ticket prices are likely to keep rising. There were 22 air-fare hike attempts in 2011, another three so far this year, and there will be more.

That's the main reason I'm forecasting higher prices for summer airfare.

The good news is prices won't go totally crazy because you and I have ultimate control over pricing. It's simple: When prices get too high, we let the airlines know by staying home. The moment we refuse to fly in those middle seats, fares will come down.

Bonus F-Word: 'Fido'

Sadly, pets sometimes die while being flown on airlines. In fact, newly released statistics show there were 35 pet deaths on commercial jetliners in 2011. The big take-away here is, no matter what airline you fly, it might be worth it to let Fido stay home with a pet-sitter.

But let me leave you with a more cheerful f-word: "free." First, checked-bags are still free on JetBlue and Southwest (the latter actually gives you two freebies), and Cokes and coffee are still free on most airlines, plus there is no charge for using the lavatory. At least, not yet.