Travel expert to the stars Christopher Elliott has a new column that explains 4 new or grotesquely inflated airline fees and some ways to get around them…

The fees are:

1) Beverages– Bring an empty water bottle and hit the drinking fountain.

2) Checked luggage– Avoid certain stupid airlines or become a carry-on ninja.

3) Award tickets– Fuel surcharges are making award tickets suck. Cash in your miles, or use your awards for something else.

4) Unaccompanied minors– Avoid airlines with insane fees or fly with your kid. At these rates, it might be worth it.

In depth explanations and more specific advice on how to get around these fees is given here, but we liked this way the best:

Of course, the best way around all of these fees is to fly on an airline that doesn’t have them. Southwest Airlines still allows you to check two bags at no extra charge. JetBlue still serves free drinks and snacks and charges $25 less than the big airlines for unaccompanied minors. Supporting these less fee-prone companies will hasten the inevitable demise of the airlines that erroneously believe they can surcharge their way back to a profit.

Four new airline fees — and how to avoid them [CNN] (Thanks, j!)
(Photo: hellochris )

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