Traveling CareGivers

Archive for the ‘Travel Alearts’ Category

Airport Check-in: Scanner would let fliers keep shoes on at security

Removing shoes at and airport security check point has gotten routine for the regular travelers, but remains a hustle for elder travelers. When traveling with an Elder Travel Companion, removing shoes may not be such a big deal as traveling alone.

New shoe scanners may eliminate the need to remove shoes altogether, Yea!

Now your Travel Companion Caregiver can help you with all the other items being searched.

By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

From USA TODAY’s Airport Check-in column: A company vying to sell airport shoe scanners has finished its "trial" at Indianapolis International, collecting results from 3,000 travelers who volunteered to try its machine in the lobby.

Morpho Detection says its data-collection experiment, which ended in late July, showed its scanner can process more than 300 customers an hour. Travelers still had to remove their shoes at the airport’s security checkpoints.

Morpho says it’ll use the data to fine-tune machines and submit it to the Transportation Security Administration.

TSA wants to revive the idea of allowing travelers to keep their shoes on at checkpoints and has announced its plans to buy 100 shoe scanners by next year. About a dozen companies hope to bid for the business. — Roger Yu

When you could use some assistance while traveling, try a Travel Companion from Care-To-Go.  In Home CareGivers are also available from Care-To-Go in the Phoenix area.

Backlash grows against full-body scanners in airports

As the TSA  airports try to get a handle on quick and efficient scanning at security checkpoints, new machines may not be the answer.

Our Elder Travel Companions from Phoenix and Scottsdale report longer security delays and frazzled nerves at full body scan airports.  Our seniors in wheel chairs are not subject to this screening and will continue to be checked as usual.  The Travel Companion CareGiver can be a great asset in transiting airport security.

By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

Opposition to new full-body imaging machines to screen passengers and the government’s deployment of them at most major airports is growing.

Many frequent fliers complain they’re time-consuming or invade their privacy. The world’s airlines say they shouldn’t be used for primary security screening. And questions are being raised about possible effects on passengers’ health.

"The system takes three to five times as long as walking through a metal detector," says Phil Bush of Atlanta, one of many fliers on USA TODAY’s Road Warriors panel who oppose the machines. "This looks to be yet another disaster waiting to happen."

BODY SCANNERS: Concerns about privacy and health set off debate

The machines — dubbed by some fliers as virtual strip searches — were installed at many airports in March after a Christmas Day airline bombing attempt. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has spent more than $80 million for about 500 machines, including 133 now at airports. It plans to install about 1,000 by the end of next year.

The machines are running into complaints and questions here and overseas:

•The International Air Transport Association, which represents 250 of the world’s airlines, including major U.S. carriers, says the TSA lacks "a strategy and a vision" of how the machines fit into a comprehensive checkpoint security plan. "The TSA is putting the cart before the horse," association spokesman Steve Lott says.

•Security officials in Dubai said this month they wouldn’t use the machines because they violate "personal privacy," and information about their "side effects" on health isn’t known.

•Last month, the European Commission said in a report that "a rigorous scientific assessment" of potential health risks is needed before machines are deployed there. It also said screening methods besides the new machines should be used on pregnant women, babies, children and people with disabilities.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in October that the TSA was deploying the machines without fully testing them and assessing whether they could detect "threat items" concealed on various parts of the body. And in March, the office said it "remains unclear" whether they would have detected the explosives that police allege Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to detonate on a jet bound for Detroit on Christmas.

TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee says the agency completed testing at the end of last year and is "highly confident" in the machines’ detection capability. She also says their use hasn’t slowed screening at airports and that the agency has taken steps to ensure privacy and safety.

The TSA is deploying two types of machines that can see underneath clothing. One uses a high-speed X-ray beam, and the other bounces electromagnetic waves off a passenger’s body.

Passengers can refuse screening by the machines and receive a pat-down search by a security officer, screening by a metal detector, or both, the TSA says.

For more information on an Elder Travel Companion go to CareToGoTravel.com and for Phoenix in home care caregiver see Care-To-Go.com

Backlash grows against full-body scanners in airports

As the TSA  airports try to get a handle on quick and efficient scanning at security checkpoints, new machines may not be the answer.

Our Elder Travel Companions from Phoenix and Scottsdale report longer security delays and frazzled nerves at full body scan airports.  Our seniors in wheel chairs are not subject to this screening and will continue to be checked as usual.  The Travel Companion CareGiver can be a great asset in transiting airport security.

By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

Opposition to new full-body imaging machines to screen passengers and the government’s deployment of them at most major airports is growing.

Many frequent fliers complain they’re time-consuming or invade their privacy. The world’s airlines say they shouldn’t be used for primary security screening. And questions are being raised about possible effects on passengers’ health.

"The system takes three to five times as long as walking through a metal detector," says Phil Bush of Atlanta, one of many fliers on USA TODAY’s Road Warriors panel who oppose the machines. "This looks to be yet another disaster waiting to happen."

BODY SCANNERS: Concerns about privacy and health set off debate

The machines — dubbed by some fliers as virtual strip searches — were installed at many airports in March after a Christmas Day airline bombing attempt. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has spent more than $80 million for about 500 machines, including 133 now at airports. It plans to install about 1,000 by the end of next year.

The machines are running into complaints and questions here and overseas:

•The International Air Transport Association, which represents 250 of the world’s airlines, including major U.S. carriers, says the TSA lacks "a strategy and a vision" of how the machines fit into a comprehensive checkpoint security plan. "The TSA is putting the cart before the horse," association spokesman Steve Lott says.

•Security officials in Dubai said this month they wouldn’t use the machines because they violate "personal privacy," and information about their "side effects" on health isn’t known.

•Last month, the European Commission said in a report that "a rigorous scientific assessment" of potential health risks is needed before machines are deployed there. It also said screening methods besides the new machines should be used on pregnant women, babies, children and people with disabilities.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in October that the TSA was deploying the machines without fully testing them and assessing whether they could detect "threat items" concealed on various parts of the body. And in March, the office said it "remains unclear" whether they would have detected the explosives that police allege Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to detonate on a jet bound for Detroit on Christmas.

TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee says the agency completed testing at the end of last year and is "highly confident" in the machines’ detection capability. She also says their use hasn’t slowed screening at airports and that the agency has taken steps to ensure privacy and safety.

The TSA is deploying two types of machines that can see underneath clothing. One uses a high-speed X-ray beam, and the other bounces electromagnetic waves off a passenger’s body.

Passengers can refuse screening by the machines and receive a pat-down search by a security officer, screening by a metal detector, or both, the TSA says.

For more information on an Elder Travel Companion go to CareToGoTravel.com and for Phoenix in home care caregiver see Care-To-Go.com

Cruising has always been a favorite vacation especially among seniors. A lot of cruise ship companies start Caribbean trips in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and San Juan, Pureto Rico. To date Miami has been the largest. Now it looks like Ft Lauderdale may take over the top rank.

Travel Companions from Care-To-Go have started trips at all three and have noted that Ft. Lauderdale is easier to access. Miami may be bigger with more flights and San Juan will start you a day further along on your trip, but Ft. Lauderdale remains our favorite. When Carnival launched their “largest ship in the world” it was staged from Ft. Lauderdale.

The following article appeared in Travel Weekly.

Also see Cruise Discounts Now at CareToGoTravel.com

Cruise Capital Miami Could Lose That Crown To Fort Lauderdale

By: Johanna Jainchill June 15, 2010

Could Miami, the indisputable "cruise capital of the world" since Ted Arison launched Carnival Cruise Lines from the port in 1972, soon find itself losing that title to a city better known for yachting and spring breakers?

Slowly but surely, Fort Lauderdale has been luring the cruise industry’s newest and largest ships to its Port Everglades, 23 miles up the coast from Miami.
Royal Caribbean International picked Port Everglades to homeport its 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, as well as its sister ship, the Allure of the Seas, which is scheduled to arrive in November.
Combined, the two ships will bring about 1.2 million cruise passengers to Fort Lauderdale annually.
Next year, Miami will lose its current largest cruise ship to Port Everglades when Royal Caribbean’s 3,600-passenger Liberty of the Seas heads north.
Royal Caribbean’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., also chose Fort Lauderdale’s port for Celebrity Cruises’ first two 2,850-passenger Solstice-class ships, the Solstice and the Equinox.
In the meantime, the brands of Carnival Corp. recently guaranteed Port Everglades that they would bring 25.5 million cruise passengers to and from Fort Lauderdale over the next 15 years if the port made significant improvements to its four existing cruise terminals.
Port Everglades was happy to oblige, just as it eagerly invested $75 million in building what is now the world’s largest cruise terminal, Terminal 18, to accommodate the Oasis, in exchange for guarantees that Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara Club Cruises would be tenants for at least 10 years.
All this from a port that didn’t begin hosting major cruise ships until the 1990s.
According to the Florida Ports Council, by 2013 Port Everglades and the Port of Miami will be tied at 4.3 million cruise passengers each. (Click on the chart for a view of cruise passengers at each port.)
Port Everglades, however, believes that its long-term contracts with RCCL and Carnival Corp. will enable it to surpass Miami sometime in 2012, once the Allure has been sailing at capacity for a full year.
"It’s the case of the tortoise about to beat the hare," said Stewart Chiron, CEO of Miami-based CruiseGuy.com.
Allen, who took his position in 2005, noted that the trend is clearly in his port’s direction. Between 2006 and 2010, he noted, Port Everglades captured 70% of the growth in the Caribbean cruise market out of South Florida.
Last year, Port Everglades saw its number of multiday cruise passengers increase by 200,000, and that was before the Oasis launched service. "The new ships are coming here," Allen said.
To his point, besides the Oasis-class, the two Solstice-class ships, the new Seabourn Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships and the Ruby Princess all launched service from Port Everglades.
When it arrives this month to launch Caribbean service, the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Epic will be the first new class of cruise ship since Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas to be introduced in Miami. It will be joined by the third Solstice-class ship, the Eclipse, next winter. But neither is staying year-round.
And when the Liberty of the Seas leaves Miami, Royal Caribbean might not be launching a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean from Miami for the first time in 40 years.
Miami’s port director, Bill Johnson, dismissed such concerns, saying, "Cruise capital of the world" is a "tired title," even though the slogan appears on his port’s website.
"The Port of Miami is doing quite well," he said. "We have the three major cruise lines and are doing 1 million passengers with each of them. Those are significant numbers that no other port can boast. We are the world leader and always have been."
Johnson acknowledged that Port Everglades’ getting the Oasis ships was a "game-changer" but said that Miami was still No. 1, pointing to the record-breaking 4.1 million passengers who passed through the port last year. In contrast, Port Everglades said that in 2009 it got 3.4 million cruise passengers, pre-Oasis.
"Competition is good," Johnson said. "If Port Everglades is successful, South Florida is successful. If they are able to grow, I’m able to grow."
Maybe so, but Port Everglades is clearly growing at a faster rate than Miami is.
Johnson said that cruise traffic at his port has been "steady." But it has remained steady as the industry has grown rapidly.
The cruise industry introduced 14 new ships in 2009, none of which debuted in the "cruise capital of the world."
Chiron, of CruiseGuy.com, said that Miami’s inability to capture that market share has hurt the local economy.
"Miami has continued to lose ground to Everglades over the years, with no response," he said.
It was the Oasis that seriously tipped momentum to Port Everglades. An economic impact study found that within five years, an estimated 8,012 jobs would be produced by the project, generating $356.5 million in personal income and $32.8 million in state and local taxes.
"When you have two ships with $3 billion of corporate investment, adding 6,000 passengers twice a week to the Caribbean market, you are significantly impacting the marketplace," Port Everglades’ Allen said. "When you have that kind of investment, you want to put it in a location capable of handling the vessels."
The Oasis was the first ship Royal Caribbean introduced at a port outside Miami, even though RCCL Chairman Richard Fain has famously said that he likes to look out his Miami window and see his ships docked at the port.
One reason Miami didn’t get the Oasis was space. Port Everglades offered to build a new terminal, while Miami was only able to refurbish existing terminals.
"A challenge for the Port of Miami is that it’s a landlocked port," said Mark Ittel, vice president of ports and maritime for Bermello Ajamil and Partners, a cruise terminal design firm based in Miami. The company works with both ports. "It has very little room for expansion. Port Everglades has the room now."
Royal Caribbean’s vice president of port operations, Juan Trescastro, concurred.
"At end of the day, the best financial deal for us was the Port Everglades deal," he said. "Miami would have done a fine job, but the thought of having a brand-new terminal with all the new bells and whistles was the icing on the cake."
Trescastro added that the new terminal enabled Port Everglades to introduce passenger-flow concepts that proved to be an essential part of the Oasis experience.
"Our mantra became, how could we be as innovative on the landside as we were on the shipside?" he said. "We are driving innovation and changes in the way we process our guests prior to getting on the ship."
For cruise lines, the overall balance of port capacity is a good thing.
"They need both of these ports to be successful in order for the cruise industry to thrive," Ittel said. "They want to see them both competing."
That competition means better port facilities. The financial benefit that cruise ships can bring to a port means improved facilities around the world.
"The ports have started to realize that if they have better infrastructure and do certain things, the ships will come," Trescastro said. "In the past … we were more of a nuisance than a benefit. Now, they realize the true economic benefit of the cruise industry to the destination."
Miami has learned that lesson. Only three years ago, former Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Bob Dickinson publicly called Miami a "third-world" port.
Johnson had only recently taken his post at the time, and since then the port has invested $100 million in its Carnival facilities and has spent $17 million to refurbish the terminal for the Norwegian Epic.
"All ports want bragging rights: the name of the newest ship or the size of a ship," Johnson said.
"But if you want to retain market share, you have to focus on the basics. At the Port of Miami we have a sound business model, and we are focused on service to the lines and the passengers."
This report appeared in the June 14 issue of Travel Weekly.

Cruising has always been a favorite vacation especially among seniors. A lot of cruise ship companies start Caribbean trips in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and San Juan, Pureto Rico. To date Miami has been the largest. Now it looks like Ft Lauderdale may take over the top rank.

Travel Companions from Care-To-Go have started trips at all three and have noted that Ft. Lauderdale is easier to access. Miami may be bigger with more flights and San Juan will start you a day further along on your trip, but Ft. Lauderdale remains our favorite. When Carnival launched their “largest ship in the world” it was staged from Ft. Lauderdale.

The following article appeared in Travel Weekly.

Cruise Capital Miami Could Lose That Crown To Fort Lauderdale

By: Johanna Jainchill June 15, 2010

Could Miami, the indisputable "cruise capital of the world" since Ted Arison launched Carnival Cruise Lines from the port in 1972, soon find itself losing that title to a city better known for yachting and spring breakers?

Slowly but surely, Fort Lauderdale has been luring the cruise industry’s newest and largest ships to its Port Everglades, 23 miles up the coast from Miami.
Royal Caribbean International picked Port Everglades to homeport its 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, as well as its sister ship, the Allure of the Seas, which is scheduled to arrive in November.
Combined, the two ships will bring about 1.2 million cruise passengers to Fort Lauderdale annually.
Next year, Miami will lose its current largest cruise ship to Port Everglades when Royal Caribbean’s 3,600-passenger Liberty of the Seas heads north.
Royal Caribbean’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., also chose Fort Lauderdale’s port for Celebrity Cruises’ first two 2,850-passenger Solstice-class ships, the Solstice and the Equinox.
In the meantime, the brands of Carnival Corp. recently guaranteed Port Everglades that they would bring 25.5 million cruise passengers to and from Fort Lauderdale over the next 15 years if the port made significant improvements to its four existing cruise terminals.
Port Everglades was happy to oblige, just as it eagerly invested $75 million in building what is now the world’s largest cruise terminal, Terminal 18, to accommodate the Oasis, in exchange for guarantees that Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara Club Cruises would be tenants for at least 10 years.
All this from a port that didn’t begin hosting major cruise ships until the 1990s.
According to the Florida Ports Council, by 2013 Port Everglades and the Port of Miami will be tied at 4.3 million cruise passengers each. (Click on the chart for a view of cruise passengers at each port.)
Port Everglades, however, believes that its long-term contracts with RCCL and Carnival Corp. will enable it to surpass Miami sometime in 2012, once the Allure has been sailing at capacity for a full year.
"It’s the case of the tortoise about to beat the hare," said Stewart Chiron, CEO of Miami-based CruiseGuy.com.
Allen, who took his position in 2005, noted that the trend is clearly in his port’s direction. Between 2006 and 2010, he noted, Port Everglades captured 70% of the growth in the Caribbean cruise market out of South Florida.
Last year, Port Everglades saw its number of multiday cruise passengers increase by 200,000, and that was before the Oasis launched service. "The new ships are coming here," Allen said.
To his point, besides the Oasis-class, the two Solstice-class ships, the new Seabourn Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships and the Ruby Princess all launched service from Port Everglades.
When it arrives this month to launch Caribbean service, the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Epic will be the first new class of cruise ship since Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas to be introduced in Miami. It will be joined by the third Solstice-class ship, the Eclipse, next winter. But neither is staying year-round.
And when the Liberty of the Seas leaves Miami, Royal Caribbean might not be launching a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean from Miami for the first time in 40 years.
Miami’s port director, Bill Johnson, dismissed such concerns, saying, "Cruise capital of the world" is a "tired title," even though the slogan appears on his port’s website.
"The Port of Miami is doing quite well," he said. "We have the three major cruise lines and are doing 1 million passengers with each of them. Those are significant numbers that no other port can boast. We are the world leader and always have been."
Johnson acknowledged that Port Everglades’ getting the Oasis ships was a "game-changer" but said that Miami was still No. 1, pointing to the record-breaking 4.1 million passengers who passed through the port last year. In contrast, Port Everglades said that in 2009 it got 3.4 million cruise passengers, pre-Oasis.
"Competition is good," Johnson said. "If Port Everglades is successful, South Florida is successful. If they are able to grow, I’m able to grow."
Maybe so, but Port Everglades is clearly growing at a faster rate than Miami is.
Johnson said that cruise traffic at his port has been "steady." But it has remained steady as the industry has grown rapidly.
The cruise industry introduced 14 new ships in 2009, none of which debuted in the "cruise capital of the world."
Chiron, of CruiseGuy.com, said that Miami’s inability to capture that market share has hurt the local economy.
"Miami has continued to lose ground to Everglades over the years, with no response," he said.
It was the Oasis that seriously tipped momentum to Port Everglades. An economic impact study found that within five years, an estimated 8,012 jobs would be produced by the project, generating $356.5 million in personal income and $32.8 million in state and local taxes.
"When you have two ships with $3 billion of corporate investment, adding 6,000 passengers twice a week to the Caribbean market, you are significantly impacting the marketplace," Port Everglades’ Allen said. "When you have that kind of investment, you want to put it in a location capable of handling the vessels."
The Oasis was the first ship Royal Caribbean introduced at a port outside Miami, even though RCCL Chairman Richard Fain has famously said that he likes to look out his Miami window and see his ships docked at the port.
One reason Miami didn’t get the Oasis was space. Port Everglades offered to build a new terminal, while Miami was only able to refurbish existing terminals.
"A challenge for the Port of Miami is that it’s a landlocked port," said Mark Ittel, vice president of ports and maritime for Bermello Ajamil and Partners, a cruise terminal design firm based in Miami. The company works with both ports. "It has very little room for expansion. Port Everglades has the room now."
Royal Caribbean’s vice president of port operations, Juan Trescastro, concurred.
"At end of the day, the best financial deal for us was the Port Everglades deal," he said. "Miami would have done a fine job, but the thought of having a brand-new terminal with all the new bells and whistles was the icing on the cake."
Trescastro added that the new terminal enabled Port Everglades to introduce passenger-flow concepts that proved to be an essential part of the Oasis experience.
"Our mantra became, how could we be as innovative on the landside as we were on the shipside?" he said. "We are driving innovation and changes in the way we process our guests prior to getting on the ship."
For cruise lines, the overall balance of port capacity is a good thing.
"They need both of these ports to be successful in order for the cruise industry to thrive," Ittel said. "They want to see them both competing."
That competition means better port facilities. The financial benefit that cruise ships can bring to a port means improved facilities around the world.
"The ports have started to realize that if they have better infrastructure and do certain things, the ships will come," Trescastro said. "In the past … we were more of a nuisance than a benefit. Now, they realize the true economic benefit of the cruise industry to the destination."
Miami has learned that lesson. Only three years ago, former Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Bob Dickinson publicly called Miami a "third-world" port.
Johnson had only recently taken his post at the time, and since then the port has invested $100 million in its Carnival facilities and has spent $17 million to refurbish the terminal for the Norwegian Epic.
"All ports want bragging rights: the name of the newest ship or the size of a ship," Johnson said.
"But if you want to retain market share, you have to focus on the basics. At the Port of Miami we have a sound business model, and we are focused on service to the lines and the passengers."
This report appeared in the June 14 issue of Travel Weekly.

Cruises have always been a favorite trip for Seniors. Balmy air, tropical swaying trees, soft steel drum music,; what’s not to like. Aside from the great ambiance in the Caribbean, Bahamas or Mexico, there are several reasons to choose a cruise over other types of vacation for Seniors. First, It is a place totally geared for all the seniors needs including food, activities, house keeping and medical services. It is so ni9ce to unpack once and watch the world pass by.

We all know that vacation tour prices including Cruises vary greatly. If you book through a travel agent, the Cruise Company, Orbits or a bulk Cruise buyer, the price varies greatly. When using a Travel Companion these prices can be easily compared and you can pick the best deal for you.

Speaking of a Travel Companion, you can now take a personal travel assistant with you to be sure that the trip goes smoothly. Your personal travel companion can travel with you all the way from your door and back again. How nice would it be to have professional assistance through the airport and flight, on the cruise and back again. One company providing Personal Travel Companions can be found at http://Care-To-Go.com

Here is an article explaining more about booking discount Cruises as reported by AARP

Low bookings for the cruise lines means a shipload of savings for you

Don’t let the storm-tossed economy discourage you from sailing on a cruise. With fewer people booking passage and more (and bigger) cruise ships being launched, cruising has become a buyer’s market. Here’s how to find the lowest fare at the best time.

Look for bulk buyers
Check out cruise consolidators, which buy large blocks of cabins from the cruise lines at a deep discount. Most of the deals don’t include airfare, but the savings are significant, and companies such as CruiseOne.com, CruiseBrothers.com, and Cruise.com feature dozens of discounted cruises around the world every week.

Don’t shrug off "shoulder season"
Rates are lower between peak and off-peak seasons, when fewer people are escaping winter. Try sailing to Alaska in mid-May or early September; to the Caribbean in late April or September and October; to Hawaii in late August, late November, February, or May; or to the Mediterranean in March or November.

Check the school calendar
Avoid any time kids are on vacation, such as spring or summer break. That’s when the supply of empty cabins is usually the lowest—and prices for them are highest. Cruises are wildly affordable right after Labor Day and during the week after Thanksgiving, for example.

Wait…Wait… Okay, now book it!
If you don’t have a specific cruise date in mind, try waiting until the last minute to book online. Almost all cruise lines quietly unload any remaining inventory as the departure date draws closer. Note: "Last minute" doesn’t mean what it used to. Post-9/11 security regulations require cruise lines to close the list of passengers as much as 96 hours before sailing.

Keep That Sail a Sale

Cruise lines don’t make a profit on your cabin, so they try to separate you from your money the second they pull up the gangplank. Here’s how to keep your budget afloat.

Factor in tipping
Some cruise lines automatically add gratuities, while others still rely on passengers to make that decision. One helpful resource is cruisetip.tpkeller.com, which calculates the suggested tip per day for each major cruise line.

Stick with the main dining room
More and more cruise ships have specialty—restaurants to give passengers options beyond the cost—included main dining room and midnight buffet. But eating at one of the ships’ designer restaurants will run you extra: on Royal Caribbean International, for example, dinner at Chops Grille is $25 per guest.

Budget for booze
Don’t expect to bring your own. Most cruise lines frown on this, and some actually employ a "liquor retention team" to seize alcohol not purchased on board (the bottles are returned at the end of the cruise).

Airlines have begun charging for checked bags on flights. Some start at $20 for the first bag and $30 for the next bag. Southwest is still free for checked and carry on bags. Most passengers don’t like the extra charges added at the airport and would rather just have the ticket price be the total price for the flight.

Now Spirit Airlines has started a new high in lows! They want to charge $45 for a carry on bag. Doesn’t everyone take bags on a trip? Of course they do. These added fees are just a rip off and an annoyance to the traveling public.

The following article appeared in Business week.

Click here to see how a Travel Companion from CareToGoTravel.com can help you navigate through these charges.

(Adds Spirit’s response in ninth paragraph, Hawaiian Airlines chief starting in 13th.)

By Jeff Plungis

April 13 (Bloomberg) — Two Democratic U.S. senators introduced legislation that would ban airlines from charging fees for bags carried aboard planes one week after Spirit Airlines Inc. became the first carrier to announce a charge.

The legislation by Senators Benjamin Cardin of Maryland and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana would assure that items essential to people’s health, work and safety can be carried on board without extra fees, according to a statement today. The bill also would require advance notice of special fees for checked items, according to the statement.

“Only one airline has announced plans to charge for carry- on item fees, but we cannot allow these flood gates to open,” Landrieu said in the statement.

Carrying a bag onto a Spirit flight will cost passengers $45 at the gate, or $30 if paid in advance, starting in August, the Miramar, Florida-based discount carrier said in an April 6 statement. Customers paying the fee will board first and all travelers can carry, without charge, small personal items such as a purse or briefcase that fit under the seat.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in an April 8 interview with travel writer Christopher Elliott, said he would hold Spirit’s “feet to the fire” over fees, especially in efforts to ensure consumers understand what they’re paying.

“I think it’s a bit outrageous that an airline is going to charge someone to carry on a bag and put it in the overhead,” LaHood said. “I’ve told our people to try and figure out a way to mitigate that. I think it’s ridiculous.”

Fares Stagnating

Carriers are seeking revenue beyond tickets sales as fares last year stagnated at 1998 levels amid the recession, according to U.S. statistics. The five largest U.S. airlines will collect $1.76 billion for checking first and second bags, a $117 million increase from last year, according to a Jan. 20 report by Ideaworks, a Shorewoods, Wisconsin, consulting firm.

UAL Corp.’s United Airlines was the first major U.S. carrier to impose a fee in 2008 when it began charging for a second checked bag. Most major airlines charge at least $20 to check one bag and $30 for a second, and permit carry-on bags and personal items for free.

Spirit Airlines adjusted fares and fees to help speed up security lines, make boarding quicker and end a “carry-on bag crisis,” spokeswoman Misty Pinson said in an e-mail.

“Spirit is even further lowering fares, lowering checked bag fees, giving customers the option to carry-on a bag for a fee that includes priority boarding, and personal items are still free,” Pinson said.

Discount Club

Spirit said passengers signing up for its discount fare club, at a cost of $39.95 a year, will pay $20 for carry-on bags when they prepay using the Internet. The carrier is lowering fees for prepaid checked bags for club members, to $15 for the first and second bags from $19 for one and $25 for the second.

Cardin and Landrieu failed in a bid to add their bill as an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that passed the Senate last month, the statement said.

Congress should avoid legislating fees as airline deregulation helped the industry lower fares and add flights, said Mark Dunkerley, chief executive officer of Hawaiian Holdings Inc., parent of Honolulu-based Hawaiian Airlines.     “You ought to allow all kinds of airlines to try new and innovative things to attract customers,” Dunkerley said in a telephone interview. “It’s important that legislation stay away from directing airlines what they can and cannot charge for.”

Watching Spirit

    Hawaiian has “no plans” to add a carry-on bag fee as it watches developments at Spirit “very closely,” he said.

Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, yesterday asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to use his power to declare carry-on luggage as a necessary part of air travel, which would subject the fees to a federal excise tax. The decision would discourage airlines from charging fees for bags, he said. If the Treasury Department doesn’t act, Schumer said he’d introduce legislation to have the same effect.

“Airline passengers have always had the right to bring a carry-on bag without having to worry about getting nickel and dimed by an airline company,” Schumer said. “The Treasury Department needs to close the loophole that encourages this abusive practice and rein in these fees.”

–With assistance from Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta and John Hughes in Washington. Editors: Steve Geimann, Romaine Bostick.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Plungis in Washington at jplungis@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net

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