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Three Budget Airline Policies That Don't Suck

One of the best ways of jetting off to fabulous locations while staying conscious of your bank account is searching for seats on a low-cost carrier. There's usually a downside, however, and that's the extra fees and policies that come along with no-frills travel.

After hearing horror stories of travel on low-cost airlines like Spirit and Ryanair, you may think there's nothing to look forward to except arriving at your destination. But every so often, there's a diamond in the rough—a policy that benefits instead of punishes traveler. Here's a few of our favorites:

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EasyJet (Hopefully) Kisses Long Airport Lines Good-Bye

This is not a late April's Fools prank.

Flying Europe's original low-cost carrier will now begin a different foot, as starting April 30th, the departures area for EasyJet will adopt a futuristic feel where passengers are checking themselves in and tagging their own bags.

Of course you'll still have to pay the £25 fee for a checked bag, but since the airline has estimated that about 80% of their passengers already check-in online, they've decided to do away with the extra cost of staffing a desk. It's all in the name of keeping airfares low, you know.

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This Week's New Routes News: WestJet, easyJet, and Virgin America

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· WestJet:
We haven’t heard too much from the folks over at WestJet lately, but apparently that’s just because they have been busy planning some new options. This week it sounds like they’re coming to visit us here in the United States, as they’re getting ready for some new flights to spots like Myrtle Beach and Dallas. Starting on May 2 there will be nonstop flights between Toronto and Myrtle Beach a couple times per week, as it looks like Thursdays and Sundays will be the days for flying. If you want to head to Dallas instead—they’ve got you covered—as WestJet will be linking Calgary with Big D beginning on April 29 each and every day of the week. These are destinations number 19 and 20 for WestJet to the United States, and we say keep ‘em coming!

· Virgin America:
It’s a double-dose of new route news out of Virgin America this week, so we thought we’d mention it one more time. Up first are their plans to link San Francisco with Austin beginning on May 21. Tickets are already up for sale, so if you’re looking to head between SFO and AUS they’ve got you covered. The next planned route for the carrier is some seasonal service up to Alaska, as they’re thinking about connecting San Francisco with Anchorage. Those flights will head back and forth like six times per week, and things will run all summer long between June 6 and September 9. Tickets are already up for sale—one-way fares between SFO and AUS will set you back as little as $89, but it’s going to be $199 between SFO and ANC.

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Copa, Spirit Airlines and Frontier are Ready for Plenty of New Routes

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· Copa Airlines:
For those who call Boston home—or can get to the airport easily—there’s some big new route news this week thanks our buddies over at Copa Airlines. They’re getting ready to fill up the tanks on one of the area’s first nonstop flights into Latin America, as the plan is to connect Boston with Panama City—that’s Tocumen International Airport to be specific. It sounds like July 10 will be the first day that things start heading back and forth, as Boeing 737s will do their best to zip through the air during the five and a half hour flight. With connections available in Panama to pretty much anywhere in the region, this is some good new route news.

· easyJet:
If you’re thinking about flying into Russia, it’s unlikely that the first carrier that comes to mind is easyJet. However, you better readjust your expectations, as they’re the latest carrier planning to head to and from Moscow-Domodedovo. The low cost carrier is doing their thing between London-Gatwick and Moscow beginning on March 18, and the tickets recently went up for sale. Starting off the flights will be a daily option, but after a month or so things will be bumped up to a couple times per day. We checked out prices through their site, and we saw some one-ways for as little as $86—nice.

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Finally Time for FastJet to Sell Tickets for First Africa Routes

We’ve been watching the deal with FastJet for quite some time, as the start-up looks to bring the cheap low cost carrier model across Africa. The initial idea was proposed by Sir Stelios of Easyjet fame and, about a year after we heard of this new venture, it’s almost time for the carrier to finally hit the skies.

As part of their plan to get up in the air as quickly as possible, FastJet kind of gobbled up another regional airline—Fly540—as this gave them some easy access to rights to fly to spots like Angola, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania. With that kind of paperwork in place it was time to pick a spot to start, and it sounds like they’re going to begin with Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The head honcho over at FastJet is eager to expand to more countries, but it sounds like his carrier plans to stay firmly planted in Africa.

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AeroMexico, Lufthansa and easyJet Start This Week's New Routes Party

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· AeroMexico:
You’ve had enough of the beach, and now you’re looking for something with a little European flair—we’ve all been there. Well thanks to AeroMexico that’s now possible, as the carrier is getting ready to fly between Mexico City and London-Heathrow.

Flights are scheduled to depart from Mexico on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, as the new flights are ready to start doing their thing on December 14. It sounds like this is nonstop option number three over to Europe from the folks at AeroMexico, and we’ve got to say that we are already looking for more—the more the merrier when it comes to new routes.

· Southwest Airlines:
As part of the overall merger between Southwest Airlines and AirTran there’s been all kinds of moving and shaking with Southwest’s routes. This week brings some new options and new changes, as they’re changing things up at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

AirTran will now be flying down to the Dominican Republic each and every day of the week beginning in April of next year, as long as the government is cool with their plans. As for Southwest it looks like they’re kicking the new route excitement into overdrive with their plans for Flint, Michigan. We kid because we love—the three daily nonstop flights between Flint and Baltimore will start on April 14.

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Prince William and Princess Kate Fly...EasyJet?

What shows the world that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are just normal people? Flying commercial airlines of course. What makes that statement even bolder? Naturally, flying low-cost carrier EasyJet. Prince William decided to whisk his princess bride off to a ski holiday in the Swiss Alps and the airline just happened to have the perfect route.

The trip was meant to be a romantic week vacation after the Prince was away for Valentine's Day on official Royal Air Force duty, but it wasn't a total couples retreat; they traveled with Kate's parents, who paid for the getaway. It does sound as if someone splurged for the "speedy boarding" option; the royals had a police escort to the empty orange bird in Geneva, Switzerland. After the rest of the passengers boarded the aircraft, most were completely surprised to see the royal couple belted and ready for departure to Manchester, UK.

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The Latest on FastJet's Low-cost Flight Plans for Africa and Beyond

Not that long ago we were all intrigued about what Sir Stelios (of EasyJet) was up to, and what he had planned for residents and travelers looking to hop around much of Africa. Well, it sounds like one of the continent's first true low-cost carriers is still in the planning stages, but with a little more progress, Stelios' FastJet might be up in the air doing its thing sooner than later.

The latest news is that the airline may head up into the skies within the next several months, so we wouldn’t find it unusual to see flights operating between now and the end of 2012. Officials at the airline are looking to initially gain access to like 15 planes to help them achieve their travel goals.

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Not Cool! European Airlines Charge for Every Little Thing

For many companies, creative ways to positively effect the bottom line sets the more successful business apart from the less successful. Airlines are no different. Frankly we are kind of fed up with hidden fees and, with the recent federal guidelines for airfare advertising, some much needed transparency is returning. This transparency is crossing the Atlantic and being adopted for the European Union as well. Now, Ryanair and Spirit ("the Ryanair of North America"), have a whole lot more in common.

Earlier this month, Spirit Airlines stomped their feet and imposed a ridiculous tax for their passengers. In addition to adding a $2 "unintended consequences" fee, the airline will now charge $5 for an agent printing a boarding pass. This is in addition to digging deep to print your own boarding pass from a self-service kiosk. You guessed it, another two bucks.

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A New Year Brings a New Fee For Those Looking To Fly With easyJet

Just when you thought you had mastered the system of European travel aboard the vast network of low cost carriers, one of the major players throws a wrench in the works. Easyjet is changing up the way it charges for certain stuff, so you’re going to need a few more euros for your next trip—and maybe a calculator and notebook.

Honestly, it’s half the airline’s fault and half the government’s fault, since much like here in the U.S, the UK is changing the rules and regulations about airlines and their fees. If you're thinking about easyJet the biggest change is a new £9 administration fee—that's like $14—that more or less replaces the former £8 booking fee forced upon most everyone using debit cards to pay for the tickets.

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Sir Stelios and 'FastJet' Scheduled to Depart Soon from Africa

When we least heard from Sir Stelios there was news about a potential new low-cost carrier that would focus on more long-haul routes. We guess the potential for cheap flights between London and New York is still there, but now it sounds like his low-cost model is shifting to a different continent altogether.

The founder of easyJet is thinking that the next great success in the airline industry will take place in Africa. He’s already working to get funding in place, and there are some deals being done between his group and Rubicon Diversified Investments in hopes of creating a new low-frills, low-cost airline. The placeholder name—FastJet—is now apparently the working name of the new air venture.

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EasyJet Buzzes Above Active Volcanoes to Test Anti-Ash Technology

Has it already been nearly two years since the massive, international air travel mess that was the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano? We suppose it's awesome that the world hasn't ended in the meantime, but now when the holiday travel season rolls around, we get a little anxious. Any weird Earth-spewing activity can throw a wrench into the whole delicate system, but not if EasyJet has anything to say about it.

In June 2010, the European low-cost carrier announced that they'd had enough of this volcano nonsense and would take it into their own hands (and US government laboratories) to develop a system to detect ash in the air in the plane's flightpath. It's called AVOID—airborne volcanic object imaging detector—and that's exactly the idea, to avoid ash so it doesn't gum up the engine and crash or cause malfunctions in planes.

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