Fuel Costs Bump Up Budget Airfares

Find tickets, new flights, even lounges

(NEWSER) - Every air traveler armed with a smartphone should load up on these five apps, says the Travel section of USA Today:

• SkyScanner (Free): This app will hunt down the best price for your ticket. It scans not only all of the airlines' websites but all of the online travel agencies (Expedia, Priceline) as well.
• Next Flight ($2.99): Yeah, it's relatively pricey, but worth the cost when needed. If your flight is canceled or delayed, or you just plain miss it, the app provides a list of all available flights from all carriers over the next two days. If none are there, it searches for hotels and car rentals.
• Priority Pass (Free): This app supplies a list of all the lounges at your airport. You can look through photos and amenities before deciding whether to shell out money for a pass.

BluePass is catered toward business travelers

(AP) - JetBlue introduced several new three-month, unlimited flight plans today in an attempt to snare more higher-paying business travelers. BluePass is available only for departure from Boston Logan International Airport or Long Beach Airport for travel between Aug. 22 and Nov. 22. The offer is a more focused version of its All-You-Can-Jet plan, announced in 2009. That plan, where travelers could go anywhere JetBlue flies, sold out within days, as did the second incarnation in 2010. JetBlue didn't offer the pass this year. More»

They raked in billions more in reservation and change fees

(AP) - You may want to take a deep breath before reading this one: Airlines collected a whopping $3.4 billion in baggage fees last year, up 24% from 2009. Reservation and change fees accounted for an additional $2.3 billion, down 3% from the year prior. The add-ons are one of the few bright spots for an industry that is caught between rising fuel costs and customers who expect rock-bottom airfares. Analysts say without the fees, the industry would be losing money. More»

Meanwhile, airline grounds 79 planes, cancels hundreds of flights

(NEWSER) - Fatigue cracking has been found along the entire 5-foot section of a Southwest Airlines jet that ripped open on Friday, forcing an emergency landing in Arizona. The NTSB says that mechanics will cut a 9-foot by 3-foot section of the plane and send it to Washington, DC, for testing. Southwest has responded by grounding at least 79 planes, reports the AP; at least 300 flights were canceled yesterday. More»

Couples can book a row and sleep

(NEWSER) - It’s not “economy” seating—it’s “cuddle class.” That’s the genius innovation cooked up by Air New Zealand, which is fitting its Boeing 777s with new “Skycouches,” rows of three regular seats that can convert into something vaguely resembling a bed. (Aol has a picture here .) Buy out the row—paying full price for two seats and half price for the third—and you should have room for two adults and a small child to sprawl out and nap. More»