New fees are pretty much inevitable. It's obnoxious and even six months ago it might have drawn howls of criticism, but now everyone seems to be charging extra for choosing emergency exit seats and so the next step has come: charging to select your seat at all. Congratulations airline companies, your nickle-and-dime opaque fees have finally crossed the line from outrageous to embittering. The LA Times has the deal:

We’ve seen airlines add extra charges to reserve popular exit-row seats and aisle seats. But are you ready for this one? Starting Ocober. 7, British Airways plans to charge you just to select a seat. That’s right: $30 to $90 for the right to choose a seat any time up to 24 hours before flying. After that time, you get a free pick of what’s left.

You're exempt if you're in first class or have a particularly high status with the airline, but everyone else is on the hook. It's $30 for coach and $90 for business, presumably on the assumption that there aren't really bad seats in business, so if you want to choose your seat you must really want to choose your seat.]]> Omri 2009-09-25T13:37:57-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/14/2437/32453

There'll be no more splurgy shopping trips to Europe for passengers on United with tickets purchased on or after Sept. 30 for travel on or after Dec. 15. The carrier, who just moved into some fancy digs in Chicago's Willis Tower (née Sears Tower), announced plans to begin charging for a second checked bag on international flights.

We can't even pretend to be surprised at this, since United's go to pay their bills and keep up appearances when other legacy carriers are charging for every little thing. The fee, a flat $50 for a second bag on flights to Europe and $30 for flights to Mexico and the Caribbean. Laying down a whole Ulysses S. Grant just so that you can bring back cheapy Carnevale masks from Venice and wooden clogs from Amsterdam seems quite a raw deal. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-09-14T08:43:52-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/25/9251/24550

Planes, trains and automobiles, indeed! Today, Virgin Atlantic announced that they've struck a deal to partner up with the Eurostar train, making it possible to book a seamless journey on both international flights and high-speed European rail.

For example, book a flight to London-Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic and you'll have the option to also book and reserve a seat on a Eurostar train from London to Brussels or Paris. No more separate ticketing necessary; hop your flight then hop a train through the Channel Tunnel. Of course it eliminates the need for the connecting flight to the same European capitals, but taking the train is often preferred. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-08-25T09:37:47-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/2/14547/66311

If you've been doing that horrible thing of "staycationing" this summer, then getting cabin fever is absolutely inevitable; we recommend planning a real autumn trip to take the edge off. After all, they say the recession is beginning to end, right?

Airfares too are starting to go up, although this isn't a great thing for travelers hoping to head to Europe after delaying such trips for so long. If places like Nice on the French Riviera and Madrid make you fill with delicious wanderlust and the urge to break out a caftan and your sunglasses, then we recommend checking out Delta's fall sale fares to Europe.

Even though they're priced from $398 without taxes and fees for travel between mid-August and late October, being flexible with dates can help shimmy that price down. And it looks like we're going to have a more expensive airfare fall, so booking as early as possible is always a good idea; it means more time to highlight in your guidebooks.

Related Stories:
· Europe Sale Fares On Delta [Smarter Travel]
· Airfare Sales Coverage [Jaunted] ]]> JetSetCD 2009-07-02T15:39:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/6/29/44845/7471

Poor Wizz Air. What started out as a sweet little marketing idea to celebrate the Eastern European low-cost carrier's fifth anniversary turned nasty this week, and we feel bad for them.

The airline set up a press conference and speaking event in Budapest, and the final act of the day was going to be the release of 1,000 balloons, each with a 10,000 forint ($50) coupon attached which the lucky finder could redeem on a Wizz Air flight.]]> amandak 2009-06-29T08:47:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/6/1/85544/61152

To Eurail around Europe has always been the standard, backpacked-approved way to see the continent in modern times, until the last decade when low cost airlines began undercutting train fares and stealing passengers. But with transportation, as with life, everything has its cycle and it looks like things could be returning to favor the humble train.

Or the not-so-humble train, rather. With market deregulation on its way—for example, EU rules will change in December to allow rail operators to compete against each other on international routes—many European countries are going crazy with high-speed rail networks. In many cases, if you include the boarding time and waiting around for planes, taking the train is quicker—and with deregulation, possibly cheaper.

Key countries in this rebirth of train travel will be France and Spain, which both have huge expansion plans for their high-speed rail. Air France is so worried they're even considering getting into the rail industry themselves. We're not worried at all, since passengers will only win on this as plenty-of-leg-room trains meet budget airline prices.

Related Stories:
· European Train Travel: Working on the Railroad [Time]
· Speeding Train Crosses Europe Faster [Jaunted]

[Photo: Terry Wha] ]]> amandak 2009-06-02T10:27:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/16/42117/3208

Last week we asked you if you're going to Europe this summer, and for the most part the wanderlust of Jaunted readers appears to be recession-proof. Many travelers who are intent on getting away are considering Eastern Europe, which tends to be cheaper and more accessible and just a little bit stranger than the standard London-Paris-Berlin itinerary.

If you're still deciding on an Eastern European destination, it's worth noting that some of our posts on summertime in Greece have included the phrases "oral sex competition" and "out-and-out degeneracy." The country is insane during the summer, whether you're close to Athens or you're gallivanting around the all-Spring-Break-all-the-time islands.]]> Omri 2009-04-16T17:01:41-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/