When it comes to fees, European airlines are way ahead of us here in the States.

Take baggage fees.

Our “pay-a-fee-to-check-a-second-bag” charge is nothing compared to Ryanair’s longtime policy of “pay-a-fee-to-check-ANY-bag”.

Anyway, an airline analyst says, European carriers typically enact new policies between 8 and 18 months ahead of their American counterparts.

So what’s ahead? Cell phone and internet use fees. Maybe.

Keep reading.

A friend of mine recently took a trip on Northwest, and she is now a firm believer that “courtesy counts”. Here’s her story:

“While making my reservations, I got to the seat selection phase, and, as usual, there were plenty of seats you could pay extra for, but no other seats were available (at that time). This confused me, since in the past, there were always at least a couple of “free seats” to choose from, and I was getting a little worried — would I have to pay for a seat?”

Keep reading — here comes the payoff…

Under a new Department of Transportation initiative, the city of Chicago will receive $153 million to reduce traffic congestion. The DOT states that the “innovative proposal will reduce gridlock through the use of congestion pricing for street parking spaces and faster, more reliable bus service…”

I don’t argue that Chicago should get the money. Anyone who has spent some time in the Windy City knows how backed up things can get downtown on both sides of the river, as well as on the Dan Ryan and other highways. However, I would like to see the same type of money and effort put forth to handle air traffic problems at Chicago O’Hare. O’Hare is generally viewed as the second busiest airport behind Atlanta Hartsfield, and it’s used as a point of connection for domestic and international travelers on their way to destinations all over the world.

We as travelers are giving money to the FAA each time we fly, and money could be used to reduce traffic at O’Hare and other major airports throughout the country. Keep reading to see how much we’re shelling out to the federal government and how it should be used…

UPDATE: More FEES Added!

Before I launch into this semi-rant, I want to make it very clear that I know the current price of fuel is killing the airlines — figuratively and literally. And believe me, I don’t want to start driving from Dallas to Los Angeles or New York any time soon.

That said, I don’t blame the airlines for trying to make a buck or trying to keep their head above water, but — I do have a bone to pick with some of their methods.

And, notice that much of my “crabbiness” stems not from airline fees, but from all the fees imposed by our local airports and the government!

Crabbiness Scale: from 1 Crab (minor grouchiness) to 4 Crabs (utterly outraged).

I now present to you — “Rick’s Crabby List”: click more to see it for yourself.

Oh, how the dominoes are falling.

First, longtime hold-out American Airlines decides to join the other airlines by instituting a $25 charge for checking a second bag.

Now comes word that US Airways is upping its “change fee” on non-refundable tickets — bringing it to a whopping $150!

Well, maybe it’s not all that “whopping” — after all, United already charges $150.

United Airlines is upping the ante when it comes to the “ticket change” fee; it’s upped it from $100 to $150. Some hike, huh?

And United is also reinstituting the old “Saturday Night Stay-over” requirement; this will affect about 65% of the cities it serves. Essentially, it means business folks who like to get home for the weekend will be penalized with higher fares.

But you can’t really blame the airlines. As United’s Robin Urbanski put it, “We are facing a cost increase of more than $2 billion this year, and that is more than twice the operating earnings we generated last year.”

I think this is what’s called a “lose-lose” situation.

I saw this one coming: US Airways has announced that, beginning May 7, it will start charging $5 minimum per flight (not roundtrip) for the privilege of sitting in aisle or window seats in the first several rows.

You know, the seats we all want. See more on the airline’s FAQ page.

For members of US Airways’ “Dividend Miles Preferred” program, this is free. But, for a lot of us out there, it means paying for the seat you want, or sitting in the back, or getting squashed in the dreaded middle seat. For the airline, it’s $ub$tantial $um$ of Ca$h.

Used to be, booking airfare online with one of the legacy carriers meant a “booking bonus”; usually, extra frequent flier miles.

But, according to Ben Mutzabaugh in USA Today, those bonuses are going the way of the T-Rex. Today is the last day United will be doing that; the only remaining bonus-giver of the big-6 is American, and who knows how long they’ll continue.

What’s going on? Hint: it’s got to do with money (what else?). Click “more” and I’ll explain.

JFK is a mess. This summer, a third of all its takeoffs and landings were late. So what do you do?

In what the New York Times characterized as a “pep talk“, the Transportation Secretary suggested charging higher fees for the most popular (and most crowded) slots. If that happens, the thinking goes, airlines won’t over-schedule.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been following developments regarding the government’s role in air travel.

Travelers were pushing for a definitive Passengers Bill of Rights, and the House responded, but their legislation was more focused on the allocation of funds to the FAA and certain tax increases than on the passenger experience.

Many within the House Committee on Rules and the DOT see a need to limit the time stranded passengers can remain on the tarmac and a need to take care of air traffic and scheduling issues that led to this summer’s dismal performances by major airlines, but the recent bill didn’t necessarily address these changes.

Click “more” to see if the White House can help.