Travel fees, whether a $20 daily charge for a resort gymyou do not use, or a $300 penalty per ticket for changing your flightreservation, can really add up for a trip that was initially planned after athorough review of cheaptravel options, such as cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, cheap auto rentals, discounttravel deals, and cheap vacation packages.
The following are tips for dealing with the latest annoyingtravel fees, according to Travel & Leisure:
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Theeasiest way to avoid baggage fees is to only bring one carry-on. Baring that, consider traveling with JetBluethat allows passengers to check their first bag for free. The Citi AAdvantage MasterCard and Visaprovides one checked bag for free for the cardholder and up to fourcompanions. The Delta SkyMiles AmericanExpress card grants one free checked bag for up to nine people on the samereservation.
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Toavoid ticket change fees that today average $300 on domestic flights considerpurchasing a fare class that does charge a change fee, if your plans aretentative. Sometimes more expensive basefares provide more flexibility if you need to later make a flight change.
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Steerclear of resort fees by calling the resort and speaking to the front desk to findout if there is a resort fee before you make your reservation.
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Passon phone or in person airline reservation fees by buying from an Internettravel company such as Cheapfares or Expedia.
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Insteadof paying for priority boarding consider flying on American Airlines and be boardedin Group 2 so long as your only carry-on item brought is small enough to fitunder the seat.
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Insteadof paying a single supplement fee that sometimes can as much as double theprice of a cruise look into Royal Caribbeans new Quantum of the Seas whichis being designed taking solo travelers into consideration. This ship will offer 16 studio stateroomswith no supplement charge.
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Saveon in flight amenity fees on such things as food, drinks, pillows, and blanketsby signing up for select co-branded airline credit cards that provide discountssuch as Citis AAdvantage MasterCard which gives cardholders 25 percent off inflight purchases. The best pay to avoidsuch fees altogether is by boarding with your own snacks, earbuds, and blanket.
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Avoid payingWi-Fi fees charged at many higher end hotels and resorts by checking first tosee if the hotel you are interested in offers free Wi-Fi to members of theirfree rewards programs. Fairmont, Kimptonand Omni hotels are some of the chains that offer this benefit.
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Steerclear of one way car rental penalties by shopping online using one-way as asearch term. Major chains sometimesoffer discount codes and coupons specifically for one-way rentals. For example, Avis places one-way rentals outof Arizona and Florida on sale in the spring to appeal to retirees who areheaded back north for the summer.
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Tominimize fees on award tickets, plan ahead when booking award travel. Some airlines charge a $75 rush fee on awardseats that are reserved fewer than 21 days before departure. The farther out you make your airlinereservation, the easier it will be to use the airlines online award bookingoptions vs. paying for help from a reservation agent.
www.cheapfares.com