Six Sneaky Travel Fees You Can (and should) Avoid

By Sarah Pascarella, SmarterTravel.com

Have you experienced travel sticker shock lately? Maybe you showed up at the airport with two suitcases and walked away with a much lighter wallet after visiting the baggage-check desk. Perhaps you rented a car and drove away with a few hundred dollars in collision-damage waiver insurance you didn't know you needed. Or maybe you got socked with hotel charges for using the Wi-Fi and parking your car. These fees and others like them are annoying at best, and severely expensive at worst. But here's a secret: You don't necessarily have to pay them.

Before your next trip, arm yourself with this list of sneaky travel fees. A bit of research, a bit of planning, and a willingness to travel light might just save you big bucks. And remember, to stay abreast of the often-confusing and ever-changing world of airline surcharges, you can always check our continuously updated Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide.

Booking fees

Now more than ever, booking a flight in-person or over the phone will cost you. Fees currently range from $5 to $45 per ticket—a hefty "convenience fee" just for completing a transaction. With the exception of Southwest, virtually every major air carrier now adds a surcharge for non-Internet bookings, so avoid this sneaky fee by booking online. With many online travel agencies now temporarily eliminating booking fees, you can save online regardless of whether or not you book directly with the travel supplier.

Seat selection fees

Let's say you've heeded my advice and booked your flight online. Good job! But the hard work of avoiding extra fees is far from over. Now comes the seat-selection challenge. Before you choose a seat, be sure the read your carrier's fine print to make sure doing so is free. Hint: If you're booking with AirTran, Spirit, United, US Airways, or Virgin America, it's probably not. (JetBlue charges for six "extra legroom" rows, but the majority of seats do not incur a fee.) Surcharges range from $6 to $349, depending on the airline and desired seat. If you're not picky about where you sit, err on the side of caution and let the airline choose your seat for you when you check in online, at the airport kiosk, or in person.

Baggage fees

Speaking of the airport check-in process, don't let your guard down there, either. With the exception of JetBlue and Southwest, every major domestic carrier charges extra for all checked luggage. Fees range from $15 to $50 for the first and second checked bag. If you add a third bag, the rates climb even higher. As such, the cheapest way to fly nowadays is with a well-packed carry-on bag.

If you do have to check a bag, limit yourself to just one and make sure to pack as efficiently as possible. Overweight bag charges can add an extra $25 to $175 to your bill. Fortunately, this is one surcharge that's entirely preventable. Check out our packing tips to learn easy ways to make the most of your suitcase space.

Now here's where things get sneaky. US Airways, United, and Spirit require you to check your bags in advance online or suffer an extra fee at the airport. These are three of the same airlines that charge you extra for choosing a seat online! So if you're going to check your bag with US Airways or United, do it online and pay $15 to $25 instead of $20 to $30 for the same transaction at the airport. Spirit also has a slightly higher fee for bags checked in person versus online—$19 online, $25 at the airport.

In most cases, though, you shouldn't see a different price if you check your bag online or at the airport. At press time, only US Airways, United, and Spirit customers need to be aware of this tricky scheme.

Excessive rental car insurance charges

Collision-damage waiver insurance (CDW) is a big profit-maker for rental car companies. What they don't want you to know is that in many cases, it's also way more insurance than you actually need.

They usually get you at the airport rental counter when you're weary from a long flight and more susceptible to sneaky fees. Hold your ground! You may already have CDW coverage through your credit card company. Before you book, call your credit card provider to see if you're covered. Then, make sure you use that card when you make your reservation. When you show up at the rental car counter, you can safely decline the extra CDW fee—which, by the way, is often as expensive as the actual car rental charge itself.

Hidden hotel fees

There's nothing more frustrating than getting an itemized list of extra fees when you check out of your hotel. Save yourself some anguish and find out what services incur an extra charge right when you check in.

Questions to ask:

• Is there a charge to use Wi-Fi in your room or common areas?

• Are there any fees to use the business center, pool, fitness room, or sauna?

• Is there a complimentary breakfast and/or coffee service?

• What are the charges for in-room movies, the mini-bar, and the like?

• Is there any fee to park my car?

Being informed up front can save you from some unpleasant surprises later.

Currency exchange surcharges

As a general rule of thumb, you'll get both the worst exchange rates and the highest transaction fees by changing money at an airport kiosk or other institution that exists solely to exchange money. A better alternative is to use your debit card to get cash from a local ATM and your credit card for retail purchases.

Even these options aren't risk-free, however, because they may also come with hidden surcharges. Call your bank and credit card provider ahead of time to find out which fees, if any, are associated with overseas use. Ask how your financial institution determines exchange rates, what surcharges are added to standard transactions (e.g., ATM use and in-store purchases), and if there are any other fees you should be aware of. You can then make the savviest decision on how to exchange money during your overseas vacation.

Remember—in every case, it's always good to be a squeaky wheel and ask questions up front, before any transaction is complete. Combing through fine print is always a good strategy as well, and can reduce the likelihood of expensive surprises. Being well informed is the best way to save.

$9-A-Seat Airline Targets Smaller Markets

JetAmerica to service cities it thinks larger carriers have left behind

NEWARK, N.J. - A new low-cost airline will begin serving mid-sized U.S. cities that it thinks larger carriers have left behind.

Clearwater, Fla.-based JetAmerica said 34 nonstop passenger flights a week will start July 13 at Toledo, Ohio; South Bend, Ind.; Melbourne, Fla.; Newark, N.J.; Minneapolis and Lansing, Mich. Twenty-eight flights start or end at Newark Liberty International Airport. The carrier will add six more flights — from Toledo to Minneapolis — starting Aug. 14.

JetAmerica is targeting small and midsize cities like Lansing, which has seen the number of daily flights at its Capital Region International Airport fall from 35 to 12 the past five years. The decline is part of a national trend that has seen airfares increase at those airports as daily flights have decreased.

Robert Selig, head of the Capital Region Airport Authority, said JetAmerica will give Lansing business travelers direct access to New York City and carry leisure travelers to central Florida.

"We don't have access to either one right now," Selig said. "So, this is going to fill a major void in our schedule."

Filling that void won't be cheap.

The Lansing, South Bend, Melbourne and Toledo airports are subsidizing JetAmerica with $1.4 million in grants in its first year, along with about $867,000 in waived airport fees and $1.1 million in marketing and advertising assistance.

South Bend, Toledo and Melbourne received their grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program, which has awarded $104 million to 223 recipients since 2002 in an effort to restore lost service and bring air fares down.

Newark and Minneapolis, each of which serve more than 20 million passengers a year, are not offering assistance to JetAmerica.

John Weikle, chief executive of JetAmerica, said the subsidies will help insulate the new carrier from spikes in jet fuel prices. Higher fuel prices have contributed to the failures of at least four major airlines since 9/11. Smaller carriers have also been hurt.

Surging fuel prices helped bankrupt ultra-discounter Skybus Inc. last year. Weikle founded that Columbus, Ohio-based airline known for its $10 fares. The bankruptcy cost 450 employees their jobs.

JetAmerica's pricing scheme will share some Skybus characteristics.

Prices will start at $9 a seat and top out at $199. The $9 price will apply to the first nine to 19 seats on each plane. Passengers will pay $15 to check a bag. Food, drinks and in-flight TV will also come at a cost.

The carrier is starting out with one leased Boeing 737-800, expects to add a second in the first month, and have as many as four by July of next year. Weikle's business plans calls for an additional 189-seat jet to be leased every four months.

Each Boeing 737-800 can fly to four cities a day, Weikle said.

Weikle estimated JetAmerica's revenue at more than $50 million in the first year and about $150 million in the second. He compares his business model to that of Wal-Mart Inc., which started out by serving cities of less than 50,000 people because competitors were not interested in them.

JetAmerica plans to serve Melbourne, Fla., with at least six flights a week. Richard Ennis, executive director of Melbourne International Airport, said JetAmerica's planes and nonstop routes persuaded him to support the carrier. Melbourne, a coastal community about 70 miles southeast of Orlando, recorded a 45 percent decline in passenger traffic at its airport from 2000 to 2008.

Ennis said carriers with larger jets like the Boeing 737-800 charge less per seat, which is an advantage enjoyed by Orlando International Airport and Orlando Sanford International Airport.

"It's the only way I can beat them out," Ennis said of the neighboring airports.

US Scraps Airport Bomb Detectors As Ineffective

By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The government is scrapping a post-Sept. 11, 2001, airport screening program because the machines did not operate as intended and cost too much to maintain.

The so-called "puffer" machines were deployed to airports in 2004 to screen randomly selected passengers for bombs after they cleared the standard metal detectors. The machines take 17 seconds to check a passenger and can analyze particles as small as one-billionth of a gram.

They also break down when exposed to dirt or humidity, the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement released Thursday. Since 2005, maintaining the machines cost the government more than $6 million.

Ninety-four of the machines were deployed to 37 airports in 2004, and the government planned to deploy 113 more at airports. Because of the performance problems, the government decided not to continue the rollout, and the rest stayed in storage.

The machines cost about $160,000 each and were made by General Electric Co. and Smiths Detection, which is based in England.

"They got frustrated with the technology and moved on to something else — I think is the short story," Smiths Detection vice president Brook Miller said, speaking about TSA.

Miller said the puffers had maintenance issues early because they puff air and then suck it into the system to analyze it. "It just wasn't to be in the airport environment," he said. Puffers are still used at facilities with less human traffic to detect drugs, he said.

Smiths Detection is one of the manufacturers of full-body imaging machines that will replace the puffers.

The full-body imaging machines, already in use at some U.S. airports, have raised some privacy concerns. In their search for bombs, guns, knives and other potential weapons, the machines create images of passengers through their clothing.

The TSA has removed 60 puffer machines from airports since last summer. TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee said the machines are being removed on a case-by-case basis, and their removal creates no security gaps.

Officials from General Electric could not be reached for comment.

The government has spent $42.3 billion on aviation security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, according to TSA.