{"id":1909,"date":"2009-10-07T18:25:31","date_gmt":"2009-10-07T23:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=1909"},"modified":"2016-12-17T01:43:48","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T07:43:48","slug":"on-the-road-travel-fees-rise-airlines-improve-comfort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/on-the-road-travel-fees-rise-airlines-improve-comfort\/","title":{"rendered":"On the road: Travel fees rise, airlines improve comfort"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOLLAR WATCH: Surprise! Travel Fees Keep Rising <\/strong><\/p>\n

Frontier Airlines<\/strong> has been busy on the fee front. It has raised its first checked bag fee to $20 and its second checked bag fee to $30. It also lowered some of its ticket-change fees. The supposedly fee-free carrier, Southwest Airlines, has invented an optional new charge. For $10, you can get so-called Early Bird Check-In<\/strong>, which will get you a spot on the boarding line behind Business Select and A-List customers.\"business_travel\"<\/p>\n

Fees on frequent-travel miles and points are rising as well. Effective December 21, National<\/strong> says it will charge renters 75 cents a day (up from the current 50 cents) if they choose to collect airline miles on their rentals. And American Express<\/strong> has raised the fee for converting Membership Rewards points into frequent flyer miles. The so-called “excise tax offset” charge is now .0006 per point with a maximum of $99 a transaction. That’s up from .0005 cents and $75.<\/p>\n

United Airlines <\/strong>continues to find new ways to sell the perks most other carriers offer only to their elite flyers. The Premier Travel plan sells a package of extras–Economy Plus seats, priority line access, admittance to the Red Carpet Club–on a flight-by-flight basis. Prices start at $47 a flight.<\/p>\n

GOOD NEWS: Some Roomier Seats in These Gloomier Times<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s not all gloom and doom up there. At least on some routes, some carriers are ratcheting up the comfort:<\/p>\n