Halve the clothes, double the money ...

Ask any frequent traveler, and that's what they'd advise you "take half your clothes and double the money" in an effort to encourage you to travel light and have a stress-less vacation. The adage could not have been more practical in this day and age!

American Airlines announced that from Jun 15 onwards, they would charge $15 for the first baggage you check in and $25 for the second! Last week, in "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me", a panelist joked, if the $15 would ensure that the baggage would travel to the same destination as you would! You are, now, going to be charged for everything from the ticket (duh!) to those 10-odd peanuts they serve aboard their flight.

Air Travel industry has been struggling for quite some time now. With the rising fuel prices, they claim that they are not able to even break even with every journey. They have been silently snarling at Southwest Airlines, the only airline that has not yet been affected by this because of their foresight. Well, foresight or not, they just lucked out by playing their cards right in the past.

What amuses me is that, now when American Airlines announced this, they were not alone. The other airlines have had similar announcements. The sudden gas price-hikes seem to have been the last straw. This industry, like any other, always seemed to compete with each other by offering competitive prices, but now they seemed to have colluded and have gone on the offense against us, consumers! Will this discourage you from traveling more?

BTW, what other surcharges do you think these airlines will impose on us?

Here are a few-

1- $1 ticket to stand in the line to get your boarding pass. Platinum members get $0.40 off.
2- $19.99 fee if this is your first air-travel, after all we HAVE to make sure you are comfortable enough.
3- $24.99 if this is NOT your first air-travel. You know the drill - pay up!

Now, at the end of your flight, when you hear the captain say, "We know you have many options and we thank you for choosing us for your travel", you can be sure that they mean it! And if you hear carefully, you might hear the captain snickering!!