BidonTravel Travel Updates, Tips, & Commentary

We don’t mind paying higher taxes and fees when we rent cars at airport locations—we’d rather do this than face no airport improvements--but all too often these fees are despicably egregious.

Take Dallas-Ft. Worth International (DFW). The word reprehensible comes to mind.

Last we heard, rental car taxes and fees totaled an astounding 61.4% at DFW. But, if you took a shuttle into town, your fees would add up to a “mere” 17.1%.

No wonder Southwest Airlines has fought pitched legal battles for years against being forced to use DFW, instead of Love Field. There are other good reasons, but this must be one of them.

Dallas is not alone. At Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Denver International, and Phoenix, taxes and fees are at least twice what you’d pay at a downtown location.

There are exceptions. LAX renters face no penalty. Orlando and Minneapolis – St. Paul travelers pay little more than at city center locations.

In most cases, however, you are better off renting downtown.

Posted by Don Nadeau at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, Southwest Airlines released its initial schedule from Denver International Airport, with flights starting January 3, 2006. Tickets also went on sale today.

Initially, Southwest will serve Chicago/Midway, Las Vegas, and Phoenix with nonstop flights from Denver’s C Concourse, as well as other cities in its system with either direct (no change of plane) or connecting service. One-way fares start as low as $59 plus tax.

“These [nonstop] destinations are just the beginning for Southwest in Denver,” said Gary Kelly, Southwest’s CEO. To help ensure smooth operations, Southwest tends to ramp up service in increments.

Traditionally, other airlines match Southwest’s fares, which makes the airports Southwest serves the best values in the country.

Priceline does not use Southwest Airlines, but priceline customers using Denver airport will benefit immensely from this new competition.

Posted by Don Nadeau at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As you might expect with fuel costs up significantly this year, retail ticket prices are also significantly higher for the upcoming holiday period.

Priceline.com reports that average retail ticket prices for Thanksgiving are running about 12 - 15 percent more than last year and 15 - 25 percent higher for Christmas period tickets. (On the bright side, these increases run less than the increases in fuel prices.)

We suspect these increases also apply to priceline's "name your own price" airfares, where you bid for your fare.

Posted by Don Nadeau at 06:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Priceline reports the following holiday travel day combinations are producing the lowest fares:

For Thanksgiving:
• Depart November 19, 21 or 22, and return November 25
• Depart November 21, and return November 26 or 27

For Christmas:
• Depart December 19, and return December 27 or 28.
• Depart December 20, and return December 28.
• Depart December 21, and return December 27 or 29.

For Thanksgiving, as is usual, Tuesday, November 22nd and Wednesday the 23rd are the heaviest travel days of the holiday, with more than 55 percent of all customers choosing to fly on those days.

For Christmas, December 21, 22, 23, 27 and 28 are currently the heaviest air travel days.

Posted by Don Nadeau at 06:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With airline fare sales less than robust during this time of high fuel costs, you may find yourself considering Amtrak travel.

On the Amtrak home page, check out "Hot Deals." Especially focus on the weekly specials. Some of these are amazingly cheap.

If you see a $59 fare between Chicago and Washington, for example, you can usually get a similar fare between intermediate points.

BidonTravel.com has a variety of Amtrak and Via Rail Canada travel guides.

Start with Tips and important cautions or Most scenic Amtrak and Via Rail routes I.

Posted by Don Nadeau at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While its routes and fares have not yet been announced, expect fares to drop substantially and the number of travelers at Denver International Airport to increase significantly, when Southwest Airlines service starts in early 2006.

Since the 1980's, Denver has been one of the few large cities in the western U.S. not served by Southwest.

Posted by Don Nadeau at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

JetBlue's flights from Boston to New York/JFK start November 8th.

This service will use smaller regional jets, but you'll still get television plus something new--more than 100 channels of SM Satellite Radio!

JetBlue also plans to launch service from Boston to Austin, Nassau, and West Palm Beach within the next few months.

Posted by Don Nadeau at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Airlines—especially the older large ones like American—are currently canceling many flights due to high fuel costs.

Reconfirm your flight times two or three days prior to traveling, just in case you your airline has not been able to reach you about a change.

It’s far better to handle this type of situation now, instead of waiting until you are at the airport, when your options may be very limited.

If your airline has voluntarily transferred you (e.g., due to high fuel costs) to significantly less convenient flights, Department of Transportation regulations say you may be owed a refund even if you have a nonrefundable ticket.

We also urge you to reconfirm flights on the day of travel prior to going to the airport. You can easily do this via a link from most airline homepages. (For a list of websites, see BidonTravel's airline phonelist.)

Posted by Don Nadeau at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Apparently strapped by a bitter strike by its mechanics and maintenance workers, as well as charges (not proven) that it has become unsafe, bankrupt Northwest Airlines has been undercutting fares of other airlines on some routes, even during the peak Thanksgiving period.

These cut-rate fares are showing up on Travelocity.com Flights.

So far, we haven’t seen other airlines match these fares, as they’re apparently hoping that public uneasiness with Northwest will divert traffic.

Because priceline.com has not been ticketing on Northwest, it is possible that some Northwest fares may be cheaper than your priceline bid on some routes.

The choice of whether or not to use Northwest is yours.

Posted by Don Nadeau at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thank you for visiting the new BidonTravel.com Travel Blog. I am the president of BidonTravel.

This is going to be a lively section, where you'll get very blunt travel advice and commentary.

Don

Posted by Don Nadeau at 01:09 PM | Permalink