Issues: May 2008 Archives

First it was the food. Then came the extra checked suitcase. Most recently, it's the prized window or aisle seats.

You had to know it was only a matter of time until an airline decided it would charge travelers to check any luggage at all.

I've also heard rumors that come August, those who fly will only be permitted to bring one carry-on item aboard the planes. And that includes a woman's purse or handbag.

Anyone want to take a bet on what the airlines will charge extra for next? Is there anything left?

Check out this local travel story out of Harrisburg. Kind of disturbing.

I don't know about you, but I've never even heard of Pinnacle Airlines.

Mary Lynn Biggs, 73, of Manchester Township just could not believe it when her travel agent gave her seven pages of information she needed to know before flying to Alabama in July.

Biggs was thankful for the advance warnings, but flabbergasted by the way air travel changed in just the five years since she and her husband, Donald, flew to Alaska.

Sure, the rules are easily accessible online. But Biggs, her husband and many other older people they know don't use the Internet. "The younger people are seeing this, but we're not aware of it," she said.

Thank God for Sandy James. That's Biggs' advisor at Carlson Wagonlit Travel on N. George Street. "Thank heavens for her," she said. "If it weren't for Sandy James, we would have been in duck soup."