Resort Fees Should Be Illegal

What if a store advertised a refrigerator for $600 and when you showed up to buy it the cashier added a $50 store admission fee and told you it was to cover your parking, bathroom privileges and the right to use your cell phone in the store.

You’d be outraged. Maybe you’d call the state consumer protection department.

So why do hotels get away with essentially the same thing?
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Passport Fees Expected To Increase Soon

If you’re looking to renew or apply for a passport, do it now because it looks as if the cost will be going up as soon as next month, according the the Los Angeles Times’ Daily Travel & Deal Blog.

The State Department has published a notice of its intent to raise passport fees by $35. That will increase the cost of a new passport to $135 and a renewal to $110. The State Department says $15 of the increase will pay for the cost of processing applications and $20 for increased border security.

The application fee for a passport card, which allows limited land border crossing and port entries, will rise from $20 to $30.

Also, if it looks like you’re going to need more pages in your passport for visa stamps, get them now. It used to be free but will cost $82 when the new fees go into effect.

Choice Hotels: Free Night After Two Stays

If you stay twice at Choice hotels before April 30 you can get a  free night on a third stay. Here’s the deal:

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More Flights, Lower Fares To Europe, Costa Rica

American Airlines will add flights in April between New York and three destinations: San Jose, Costa Rica; Madrid; and Manchester, England.

I see some pretty good fares this spring on all three of those routes, which is probably not a coincidence. Any increase in supply can push prices down in the ultra-competitive airline business.

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Beware Of Gas Station Credit Card Skimming

Here’s a reason you may not want to pay for gasoline with a debit card, no matter where you’re traveling.

Thieves are attaching devices to gas station pumps that record credit card and debit card data, including PINs, a scam known as “skimming.” In the latest twist, the thieves don’t have to wait to retrieve the device to get the data because it’s transmitted to them via wireless signals, as the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

With debit cards, thieves can reach right into your bank account. With credit cards, the fraud protection is more robust. Of course, the safest policy may be to pay with cash.

Bermuda Cruise: $589

There are inside cabins available on the April 25 sailing of the Norwegian Dawn from New York to Bermuda for $399 a person, double occupancy, which comes out to $589 per person when taxes and Bermuda’s rather substantial port fees are added.

It’s a very nice price for a Bermuda cruise, which tend to be comparatively expensive. For those of us who live in the Northeast, it’s an opportunity to cruise without paying airfare.

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Cheap One-Way Car Rentals From Florida

Tom Parsons of Best Fares recently published a great idea for a spring vacation: take a one-way flight to Florida, rent a car for as low as $10 a day (plus  taxes and fees) from Alamo and drive it back home.

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Ski Time: Low Fares To Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Fares to Jackson Hole from northeastern airports typically run over $600 during ski season, but there is a limited opportunity in March to get a round-trip fare of $329, taxes and fees included, from Bradley.

Alerted by Airfarewatchdog, I checked out the fares on Kayak and FareCompare, and here’s what I found:

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Cruise Deals On Travelocity

Travelocity is promoting a cruise sale that includes four-day cruises out of Florida for as low as $172 per person, double occupancy, which comes out to $230 with all taxes and fees included.

That rate gets you four nights in an inside cabin on Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas for a Bahamas cruise on several September and October  departures from Port Canaveral, Fla. The cruise stops at Coco Cay, a private island owned by Royal Caribbean, and Nassau.

Another notable deal: a seven-night cruise on Celebrity’s Century for $399 per person, in an inside cabin, adding up to $509 with taxes and fees. This rate is available only on the May 3 sailing out of Miami with port calls at Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Coco Cay.

The Latest On Checked Bag Fees

George Hobica over at Airfarewatchdog.com has updated his very handy chart of bag fees on domestic airlines.

Still free for the first bag: Southwest and JetBlue. Still free for the second bag: Southwest.

Keep this in mind when you compare airfares.