As the summer travel season ramps up, so do the associated frustrations -- especially this year. Airlines have cut back on flights, which means jam-packed planes and less room for carry-ons. But checking your bags is...you, know...cha-ching, and the cornucopia of additional fees runneth over. And this is on top of fares which have skyrocketed since last year -- 24% on the average. Nevertheless, according to the Air Transport Association, roughly 2.2 million folks will fly summer -- an increase of 1% over summer 2009.
All of which means that seeking out bargain fares is more work than ever. And information is definitely power here. But most of us with day jobs outside the travel industry just cannot keep up with the ever-changing ins and out of air travel. Which is why we need sites like Airfare Watchdog. Any number of travel websites track airfares and offer alerts. Airfare Watchdog offers more -- such as a blog highlighting travel deals and news, and a Travel Q&A, which covers everything from car rentals to currency exchange.
But the best thing about this site, IMHO, is the airline/airfare advice page, which is essentially a collection of "some of the useful articles we've written over the years." These cover such things as:
Getting the cheapest airfare (including utilizing resources available on other sites)
Airline fees (including regularly updated charts showing checked bag and other fees charged by the airlines)
Airline regulations (including flight changes)
Flying in comfort (including tips for snagging the most comfortable seats)
How to complain and get heard (Twitter, anyone?)
Flying with children
Insurance
Frequent flyer miles (including a frequent flyer fee chart)
Passenger rights (getting bumped, etc.)
Avoiding problems (including a comparison of airfare alert sites)
These articles are updated as needed, and new ones are added regularly. Particularly if you haven't flown in awhile, you should definitely spend some time here, and anyone who travels by air even sporadically should bookmark this page for future reference.
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