That's right lady, go ahead and type in our checked baggage fees and holiday surcharges; we now know to avoid your airline in future travels. You see, three airlines have become the grinches of the holiday travel season. Not only are they throwing down the baggage fees, but they're already upping recently-announced peak travel surcharges, some of which continue through to 2010.

The offending airlines are: United, Delta and US Airways. Might as well just throw all your spare change and travel coffee money at them now, with all the little additional nicks they're taking at your wallet... ]]> JetSetCD 2009-11-23T13:59:00-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/23/105629/76

Who doesn't end up watching "A Christmas Story" on TV at least once during the holidays? This year, the Kansas City Repertory Theatre is bringing Ralphie, and his dream of getting a BB-gun for Christmas, to the stage too. "A Christmas Story: The Musical" will run through Dec. 27 at the Spencer Theatre in Kansas City, MO. The musical includes all of the movie's best moments, like a tongue frozen to a lamp post, a bar of soap in the mouth, a mannequin leg lamp, and a Chinese Christmas dinner, plus new music created to compliment each scene.

Tickets for "A Christmas Story: The Musical" can be purchased from the online box office. You can select any date to see what seats are available before purchasing. Most shows are sold out or close to it though so you'll have to act fast. Adult tickets are $60, Senior Tickets are $47 and Student Tickets are $20. ]]> cmb 2009-11-23T11:39:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/16/45937/153

Think a white, sandy Christmas might be better than a white snowy one? All you northern hemisphere people can be guaranteed a very different experience if you decide to celebrate Christmas in Australia, where temperatures can easily reach over the century mark and a swim at the beach is way more likely than a snowball fight.

The nice thing is that it's not even too late, if you decide skipping the drag of family festivities is what you want. There are still plenty of packages available to get you Down Under for a few days around Christmas time, including heaps of lastminute.com travel packages from LAX to Sydney, including airfare and accommodation for a week for around $2,000 for a five-night stay. ]]> amandak 2009-11-20T14:25:26-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/19/33356/044

It's hard to feel the holiday vibe in San Diego when the temps hover at 80 degrees and the only trees you see are of the palm variety. But when traditional events like the Balboa Park's 32nd annual December Nights roll around, it starts to feel a lot like Christmas.

San Diego's kick-off to the season will take place December 4 from 5 to 10 p.m. and December 5 from noon to 10 p.m. in Balboa Park. More than 300,000 revelers are expected to attend December Nights, the largest free community festival in the city. Start off the festivities at the International Christmas Festival at the House of Pacific Relations Cottages. There you can get eats from all around the globe like Polish kielbasa, Panamanian fried plantains and Filipino lumpia, a yummy kind of egg roll. But wait, there's so much more...]]> Jennifer Kester 2009-11-19T16:09:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/19/11644/933

You have itchy feet and nowhere to be next Thursday (or you simply need a good excuse to get away from the day). We have a few packages that will be more cost-effective than buying a whole turkey. Let's check 'em out...

Option 1: Spend it with the First Family:
LastMinute.com has flight and hotel packages to Washington D.C. starting at just $246. When you get there, work up an appetite at the Eighth Annual Trot For Hunger 5K along the Potomac, then chow down at the Mandarin Oriental's new restaurant, Sou'wester. On Friday, hit Pentagon City mall at 5AM to get all your shopping done, then attend a tree lighting in Old Town Alexandria. ]]> egw 2009-11-19T11:24:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/19/6544/5771

Remember all those airline fees that were pouring in a few months ago related to this season’s holiday travel? Well the airlines must have really enjoyed what they were seeing, as they are now looking to tack in some additional charges for days well into 2010. Delta, United, and American Airlines are busy adding these presents to our tickets anytime they think travel will be busier than usual.

The website BestFares.com is reporting that Delta and United have added surcharges to as many as 40 days between now and next May. The fees can be as much as $30 each way depending on distance, time, and other factors that appeal to the airlines. Our favorite airline fee has to be the $50 one-way charge that has now been added to some flights on February 8. In case you don’t have the NFL calendar kicking around, that’s the day after the Super Bowl. Not like we could afford tickets anyway, but we can still be angry about it. ]]> kjb 2009-11-19T09:44:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/18/184442/91

We've talked about this before in a much broader context, but there really is something about packing the overhead bins that turns people into animals. It's not stress; no one was pushing in line on the skyway to the plane. It's not rational anger; people should be calmer the closer they are to settling in for the flight. And it makes no interpersonal sense as people rarely fight that viciously over armrests or seat pitches, both of which are at least as important on a long flight. There's just something about putting "my stuff" in "my space" that drives people absolutely insane.

Now CNN has taken that basic psychological fact and somehow spun an entire article out of it. The basic idea: business travelers live by a set of unwritten guidelines that holiday travelers—the clumsy aviation bumpkins of our story—comically stumble into. Or not so comically, since Jim Kavanagh of CNN seems to believe that this tension is a match at the fuse of all holiday travel. He's obviously on the right track since there really is something weird about the way people stow luggage. But in another way he's very definitely wrong. First let's look at his little sociological writeup:]]> Omri 2009-11-19T09:19:29-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/