Keep Track of All the New Airline Fees

Planning a flight and wondering about all the new add-on fees?

Wonder no more.

Rick Seaney of FareCompare.Com has put together a real nice chart including virtually every US airline and every add-on fee, including...

Phone reservations, first bag, second bag, advanced seat selection, soft drinks, snacks, alcohol, pets, adult movies, curbside check-in, and more.

I wonder when they'll add water and oxygen to the list!

Check it out at http://rickseaney.com/domestic-airline-fee-chart/

PS: Just kidding about the adult movies. Wanted to make sure you were reading. :-)

How NOT To Apply For A Writing Job

You would think if someone were applying for a writing job, they would pay special attention to their…

Well, to their writing, yes?

But if you thought that, I am afraid you would have thought wrong!

Here are just a few of the lowlights from recent resumes and cover letters I've received. Each line is from a different letter, (followed by my comment)…

* "The benefits for you in hiring me are that you get a versatile pro who works hard. If I miss a day of work, it's because of a hurricane or I'm contagious."

(NOT SURE IF CONTAGIOUS IS A GOOD "RESUME" WORD).

* "Words have been passed down even before Christ himself came to earth to sacrifice himself for human kind."

(MAY NOT BE THE TIME OR PLACE FOR THIS).

* "Current Job Title: The talanted Mr. Cordero"

(IF YOU ARE GOING TO BRAG, AT LEAST LEARN TO SPELL).

* "Objective: To Secure a Job to Suit Related Interests"

(AND HOW EXACTLY IS THAT GOING TO HELP ME?).

* "Writing has always been a pass time for me; however I would relish the opportunity to make it a career."

(DITTO - AND I THINK YOU MEANT PASTIME).

* "Organized and creative thinker, who is very much part of the work experience; establishing, ethics, diversity and above all innovative thinking"

(HUH?).

* "while I am a very good writer, I consider my major strengths to be more intangible."

(WHAT?).

* "I am a curious about everything under the sun, the sun itself and its' orbit."

(NASA MAY BE LOOKING FOR ASTRONOMERS BUT NOT ME).

* "I am particularly interested with self help topics, news headlines and just recently fashion."

ISN'T THAT SPECIAL.

Next post, I'll show you a few of the ones that were actually good.

Smoke Em if You Got Em

Flew up to JFK last night for some personal business meetings in NYC this weekend. I actually used frequent flyer points on JetBlue for this trip.

I'm starting to use up ALL my FF points right now. I think you should too...

Yesterday CO announced 3,000 folks laid off. The press release - like so much air news these days -mentioned "crisis" more than a few times. Sure, they're probably fishing for a bailout. But there's real trouble here too.

As fuel prices explode and air fares follow, those 25,000 points that were worth a $200 flight are suddenly worth $300 or $400. So using them up now has become a great deal.

But with all the trouble in the industry, you've got to think this party is not going to last. You've got to think frequent flyer programs are the next thing that are going to be cut.

I'm looking at various redemptions now (Delta, CO, USAir) and the summer's almost impossible, but right after Labor Day there are plenty of openings.

If you've got a stockpile of points you've been hoarding, now might be the time to use them for some autumn travel.