For those of you planning a trip soon, you can find an airline-by-airline guide to food service - what you'll get free, and what you won't - here. US Airways is currently the food scrooge, charging a buck for a lousy cup of coffee. Or should I say a cup of lousy coffee? What I've found most irritating of late is the fact that the airlines often run out of food halfway through the plane. Any sane flier brings their victuals on board with them. (You'd better not check your victuals; they charge you for the bag.)
Meanwhile, the frequent flier cards are increasingly a rip-off as the Times suugests here. Frequent flier tickets are no longer free - burdened now by the same nickel-and-dime spirit of inflight food - and you need a ton of miles to buy that one remaining frequent flier seat.
Hidden charges and a reduction in frequent flier bennies is simply another way to raise fares. I'm curious whether government agencies collecting inflation data have managed to account for this hidden rise in the cost of travel.
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