News, Tips and Resources for Online Bargain Hunters
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It is a fairly simple but very useful tool for vacation planning. GetSet lets you enter your home city and your destination and with one button click will tell you how much it will cost to travel the round trip by airlines, car and a bus.
For some reason railroad is ignored and there is no way to automatically calculate the savings if several people (e.g. family) travel together by car. Other than that, the idea is simple and brilliant! Well done guys!
The price comparison site Kayak ran a very useful roundup of additional fees charged by airlines. These are the checked in luggage fees, snack fees, pet fees, etc. I don’t usually fly with pets but I do care about luggage, and I love to have a snack as well. When I fly I usually check in one bag and buy the least expensive snack. When I check in luggage, I do it online since many airlines offer a discount. Considering all these specifics, I figured I needs to compile a quick reference table for some of the most popular US airlines and total overhead I should expect for one checked in bag and a small snack. So here it goes (sorted by total fees). For more details, go to the Kayak roundup I mentioned above.
| 1st Luggage | Min Snack | Total Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Southwest | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| AirTran | $15 | $0 | $15 |
| Northwest | $15 | $2 | $17 |
| Continental | $18 | $0 | $18 |
| United | $15 | $3 | $18 |
| Spirit | $19 | $2 | $21 |
| American | $20 | $3 | $23 |
| Midwest | $20 | $3 | $23 |
| US Airways | $20 | $3 | $23 |
