American Airlines has decided to drop across the country its $2 per bag curbside check-in fee.

The airline has been the target of anger and jokes ever since it decided to start charging $15 one-way for a first checked bag (yep, no such thing as a free checked bag on American anymore).

It would seem they’re trying to eke out a little good publicity in the wake of all the bad. What do you think — too little, too late?

Was just checking out the informative “Ask the Pilot” column on Salon.com, and found an amusing nugget.

Pilot/author Patrick Smith, with tongue-in-cheek, was writing about airline marketing ideas, and proposed this one:

“Here’s a challenge to any airline daring enough: a rule that requires the medicating, muzzling or sequestering of all children under 4 years old — below deck would be nice, or out on the wing.”

No doubt he was simply stirring things up, to get a lively reaction (and to judge by the comments, that’s exactly what he’s getting!) — but what do YOU think?

DO we need a “kids-only” section on airplanes?

According to a recent poll commissioned by the Travel Industry Association (TIA), 28% of U.S. air travelers said they “avoided” at least one flight in the past 12 months — which is estimated to have cost the travel industry more than $18 billion dollars.

Now, since it’s difficult to prove a negative, it’s hard to say if all these folks really had planned to take these flights they avoided.

But I think what’s most telling here is, that more than half the respondents said they would fly more often if flying was easier, with less hassles.

A TIA spokesman said, this “should be a wake-up call to America’s policy leaders that the time for meaningful air system reform is now.”

Everyone wants “meaningful air system reform” — the question is, how?

Planning a trip, but not sure if you’ll have to pay for one bag or two?

Not clear if you’ll get a free snack, or pay for those pretzels or shell out for those peanuts?

You’ve come to the right place. Click here to see your one-stop-shopping guide to ALL the airline fees.

And I’m sure we’ll have to update this — as the fees keep piling up.

So please — check back regularly.

It looked like it might be the beginning of the end for Silverjet when they suspended share trading on the AIM last week after failing to receive funding they believed was coming their way. Even though the UK-based all-business class carrier insisted they would continue to fly, it seemed to many that Silverjet was headed down the same path as now defunct business class carriers eos and MaxJet.

Today, Joe Brancatelli of JoeSentMe confirmed that despite Silverjet’s optimism, the carrier has ceased flying. Joe also reports that Silverjet is still fighting to stay in commercial air travel, but as we’ve seen, commercial air travel has not been kind to business class carriers:

“Silverjet says it is trying to arrange alternate funding to resume operations, but, given the state of things with airlines, that looks extraordinarily doubtful. And, if you are keeping score, that means all three all-business-class airlines launched between the New York area and Greater London have now folded. Only L’Avion, which flies between Newark and Paris/Orly, remains in the all-business-class category.”

Rising fuel surcharges and increased airfare have sent many business travelers back to coach. This coupled with competition from larger carriers like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic has finally taken its toll on the New York to London niche all-business class market.

I had a little day dream today about possible new fees that airlines (or for that matter the government) might charge to recoup the cost of fuel — I figured you might have some suggestions as well so fire away …

1. Humongous Carry-On Bag Relief Fund (to bail outluggage manufacturers who over inventoried reasonable size carry-on bags)
2. Charging people by the pound at check-in (one could of course diet — or not –after ticket purchase but before departure requiring a scale & credit card transaction at check-in)
3. “Bigger” Plane Surcharge (non grounded MD-80 vs. CRJ)
4. Boarding Group Order Surcharge (complimentary to the $15 first check bag fee, as those that board last will be charged because of no bin space and forced to gate check)
5. Clean Seat Back Pocket Fee (to cover the cost of a HazMat team coming in between flights)
6. Unmarked In-Flight Magazine Fee (to replenish after the HazMat team or the guy who tore out the male pattern baldness advert page)
7. Bag Never Lost Insurance Fee (cover the cost of adding a Mission Impossible tracking microdot to each bag — check that we can’t even sort out GPS for planes …)
8. Refreshment Cart Starting Location Fee (guaranttees the cart will start on your end of the plane)
9. Working Seat Back Fee (to protect us against the dreaded Knee Defender)
10. Customer Satisfaction Survey Ballot Box Stuffing Surcharge (so that airlines will rate higher than the IRS and Gas Stations on next years U. Michigan survey)

BTW, I posted a current airline fee chart for those who want to see a comparison side-by-side.

A question from an online Australian publication called “The Age”:

Is business class a thing of the past?

Well, in their neck of the woods, the answer seems to be “yes”.

According to a survey taken in the Australian state of Victoria, only about 10% of business travelers are still flying business class! And 47% of those business travelers looked for the cheapest airfare available.

But, interestingly enough, the road warriors and companies surveyed also said that business travel is still a necessary expense. They just don’t want to pay more for it than they have to.

Will we be seeing the demise of business class in the U.S. anytime soon? More crowding in “cattle” class? Your comments, please!

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters did a little traveling this week (presumably on government aircraft so she didn’t have to worry about any of those new checked-bag fees).

She wound up in Baghdad to present certifications to 3 Iraqi nationals, who became the first tower-certified air traffic controllers “after completing months of rigorous instruction based on international aviation safety standards”.

Another 22 controllers are expected to receive certification soon.

And just so you know, Iraqi Airways and Royal Jordanian fly in and out of Baghdad with regular scheduled service, as do cargo carriers DHL and Federal Express (through its regional affiliate Falcon Aviation).

Never thought I’d see the words “airline” and “salvation” in the same sentence, but in this case — it’s a good fit. Read on.

Are you a Northwest WorldPerks member? Then you can help NWA assist the internationally respected Salvation Army with its travel needs as the organization helps the quake victims of China (and get a reward for your generosity). Here are 2 ways to help:

1.) You can give miles to the Salvation Army, and the airline will match those miles — click here to transfer miles (or you can call 1-800-327-2881). You’ll need your WorldPerks number and PIN handy.

2.) You can also donate $50 or more directly to the Salvation Army and receive 500 WorldPerks Bonus Miles. Information on donating money to AirCares partners may be found at here and here.

More than half of all round-trip airfares between the top 50 domestic citys (about 1,200 city pairs) now have minimum-stay requirements.

About 1/3 of these are of the less onerous type (1-night — same day trips) while most require a 2 or 3 day stay, or a Saturday or Sunday night stay. In other words, nearly half of the cheapest round-trip airfare on the most popular flights now require that you stay-over on a Satruday or Sunday night, or you need to stay over 2 or 3 nights.

If you don’t do this (and this is something business travelers rarely do), you’ll pay a substantially higher price (the business rate) for your airline ticket. This is less of an issue with the low-cost airlines because they have a one-way airfare structure where minimum-stay rules are not applicable.

We recently pulled the rules for over 40,000 round-trip airfares between the top 50 cities by traffic (about 1,200 city pairs) — why? — because airlines and analysts are now saying that “minimum-stay requirments” are making a comeback — so we decided to check it out.

The data was used in an article this week in USA Today entitled “Minimum stay airfare rules irk fliers”.

Which airlines are the worst offenders? More importantly — what can you do about this? Keep reading, and I’ll tell you…

Airlines said they’d be cutting flights and capacity, and they are doing so. Here’s the latest round-up (with an emphasis on American):

• American Airlines ends its JFK to London Stansted flights on July 2.
• American will stop flying Chicago to Buenos Aires on Sept. 3.
• American’s Boston to San Diego flights will also end Sept. 3.
• American’s Chicago to Honolulu service will end Jan. 5.
• Expect more flight losses at Cincinnati and Pittsburgh
• Did You Know? 3 state capitals have lost (or are losing) air service entirely: Trenton, New Jersey; Topeka, Kansas; and Santa Fe, New Mexico

Hey, somebody got it right!

I’m talking about that American Airlines flight from New Jersey to Dallas that was diverted to Austin Tuesday due to storms. The plane had to sit on the tarmac for nearly 4 hours.

But not the passengers!

They were allowed to deplane, or if they chose to stay, they were given free snacks and drinks, and yes, the plane was air-conditioned.

And that’s the way it should be.

In my latest column on ABCNews.com, I discuss the somewhat unusual idea that your summer travel may not be as expensive as you think.

And please notice, I said “travel” — not airfare.

I am looking at the overall picture, as anyone traveling this summer should do — and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Of course, I give you tips on how to make your travel even cheaper — so take a look. And tell me what you think.

It’s happening soon! Please join me for a live chat today, with the fine folks at the Rocky Mountain News newspaper. It’s at Noon EDT, 9am PDT.

Just click here to get to their website; follow their directions, then fire away! Ask me anything about travel.

Or just follow along with the chat. Should be fun — and informative.

Since I look at thousands of airfares a day I figured it might be fun for a few days to write down what I see through the myriad of reports our software kicks out. Let me know in the comments if this information is useful to anyone …

Tonights 8:00pm EDT domestic airfare distribution highlights:

• Continental Airlines raised prices by $20-22rt between the U.S. and Canada
• Northwest Airlines raised prices by $32rt to Puerto Rico — dropped prices by $60rt to Idaho, Montana, Panama City Florida — dropped prices by $60rt from Newark to California
• Air Canada raised prices intra-Canada by $30rt
• Delta Air Lines dropped prices by $20-60rt touching Albany & Columbus GA, dropped $34-40rt touching Denver, Newark, Miami, Detroit
• Alaska Airlines dropped prices by $22rt touching Seattle, Portland, Spokane, Boise, Salt Lake, Reno & Atlanta — raised prices by $21rt touching Memphis and Detroit
• American Airlines dropped prices by $20rt touching Cincinatti, Atlanta, Cleveland and Minneapolis

BAD NEWS: Just when we had something of a mini-airfare war going on with Hawaii routes (started by Continental, and United quickly followed), instead of expanding these ridiculously low prices a major increase has been fired out (the skirmish might stick on those few city pairs for a few more days).

In other words, Continental has just increased roundtrip fares to Hawaii from $60 to $203. Yep, the war is over; but let this be a reminder to you: if you SEE great fares, JUMP on them. They do not last.

Continental has also increased airfares for thousands of other city pairs by $40 to $60, mostly in what was once tip-toe territory — low cost airline cities.

GOOD NEWS: Delta is dropping airfares (by $34 to $60 roundtrip) to Anchorage, the greater Denver resort cities area and Cincinnati.

The summer travel season is upon us, and people all over the country are planning their getaways. But where they are going?

The ASTA has released its projected numbers for this year’s summer travel. According to the travel agents, this year’s top US summer destination is the same as last summer’s: Orlando.

No surprise that Mickey and the gang are still bringing in big numbers, but if you take a look at the 2008 list, you’ll see that there are very few differences from last year.

Keep reading to see which cities rounded out the ASTA’s list and which destinations made up ground from 2007…

An unsettling report from the Houston Chronicle this morning; it seems a Continental pilot said he saw a rocket shoot past his cockpit Monday — or, what he thought was a rocket — and others saw its “trail of smoke”.

This was about 8 miles north of Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport; the plane was heading to Cleveland (and indeed got to Cleveland, without incident or injury).

An FAA spokesman said, they don’t know for sure what the thing was, but have suggested it could be a hobbyist’s model rocket (yes, those things can and do reach incredible altitudes).

Meantime, the FBI is investigating; I’ll let you know if I hear more.

On Saturday at 5pm, Continental Airlines inexplicably fired out an incredibly cheap airfare from Los Angeles to Honolulu for $257 (including fuel surcharge - plus fees, travel starting August 16th).

These tickets have been going for at minimum twice that price lately and in some cases for June and July four times that price.

In obvious retaliation on Sunday at 5pm, United - not to be out done — fired out similar price airfare from Continentals hubs in Newark and Houston to Honolulu (travel Mon-Thur Departing after August 20) and the mini battle began — fuel or no fuel. Charlotte, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were added into the mix.

Here is the current skirmish cities — take advantage while you can this probably won’t last long:

• Continental, Charlotte to Honolulu $271 (Fare Code: SRWL21N)
• United, Newark to Honolulu $245 (Fare Code: SLO213NH)
• United, Houston to Honolulu $247 (Fare Code: SLO213NH), $291 (Fare Code: WLOE303N)
• Continental, Los Angeles to Honolulu, $257 (Fare Code: XLWE7N ) $308 (Fare Code: XLOE21N)
• Continental, Philadelphia to Honolulu, $260 (Fare Code: TLOE21N)
• Continental, Pittsburgh to Honolulu, $228 (Fare Code: SRWL21N)

Let’s hope the “war” extends to other airlines, my buddies in Hawaii need all the help they can get …

We’ve all seen some unusual (and unwelcome) fee hikes of late, but Frontier Airlines will soon be upping one of the more unusual fees passengers can be hit with.

According to its website, the Denver-based carrier will now charge $100 (up from $75) for transporting…antlers.

Important news for hunters I suppose, and, maybe for those who like to browse Denver’s Antiques Row on South Broadway — in search of “Old West” decor.

Yesterday evening in the 5:00pm EDT domestic airfare distribution, Northwest Airlines matched the United initiated airfare hike of up to $60 roundtrip across the bulk of its route system.

This completes wide matching by all six legacy airlines.

American Airlines also increased what appears to be mostly Southwest overlap routes by $6 - $8 roundtrip.

United and Continental both dropped several thousand city pairs by $22 roundtrip.

I’ll have more on that later (normally when two airlines drop the same amount in the same feed it is a reaction to a low cost airline, I will soon confirm if this is the case).

An acquaintance of mine was to fly from Los Angeles to Dayton, Ohio on Friday, when he got a call from American Airlines saying the flight was canceled due to mechanical reasons.

He was assigned a flight the next day – Saturday — which goes to show you what reduced capacity means these days.

Now here’s the important part: American told him he must arrive for that Saturday flight “90 minutes ahead of time.”

My friend didn’t listen — he got to the airport just an hour ahead of time. Guess what? He couldn’t get on the flight he was assigned to! All filled up. And so was the next, and the next…

He eventually got to Dayton quite late on Saturday night.

Moral of the story: if your flight is canceled and the airline tells you when to arrive to make the replacement flight, LISTEN TO THEM.

I like to think of Memorial Day as a holiday that uniquely combines remembrance with family time.

No matter how you spend the day, we hope it’s a good one for you.

…from your friends at RickSeaney.com and FareCompare.com

Last night, United Airlines initiated the 16^th attempt at hiking airfares in 2008 and this hike was all across the bulk of its route system.

The increase ranges from $10 to $60 roundtrip. Also last night, AirTran raised airfares by $50 roundtrip for most flights.

And the hikes continue: this morning, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines both matched the United airfare hike across the bulk of their respective route systems.

Will more legacy airlines match this latest price hike? To that I respond — do they really have a choice? I would be surprised if we don’t see wide-spread matching over the long holiday weekend.

What this means to YOU, and my ANALYSIS coming right up, so keep reading…

Silverjet has suspended trading of their share on the AIM. Was it just a matter of time?

We’ve already scene the toll that rising fuel costs and struggling economies can have on business class travel. All-business class carriers MAXJet and eos have already vanished from the commerical air travel scene, and now Silverjet is facing the same problems that grounded those two airlines.

Joe Sharkey posted a copy of a Silverjet release today stating “Silverjet has requested, and the London Stock Exchange has confirmed, an immediate suspension in the trading of the ordinary shares of the Company on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.”

Silverjet will continue service, but the question becomes, for how long? Are promised investments going to come through, and will they be enough to keep the airline aloft? That remains to be seen.

Please visit our First Class Travel blog for the complete story on Silverjet’s latest announcement.