A lot of people will be flying over the holidays and many of us will be carry gifts which means more luggage. It’s hard to keep up with which airlines charge for bags and how much it costs but luggagelimits.com is a great resource to keep you well informed. Just type in your airline, departure and arrival airports and the site will list the baggage rules for your flight and any applicable fees.

There are too many fees to keep up with these days!

SmarterTravel, Airfarewatchdog and SeatGuru, three sites I like, have teamed up to create the Ultimate Guide to Airline Fees, a chart that gives you the run down of the latest charges from all of our major domestic airlines.

Best of all…it’s totally free!

This weekend I’ll leave you with some advice:

Start planning your holiday trips!

I know you are thinking that it’s really far away, but travel has gotten expensive and airlines are cutting flights. I suggest that you sit down and make a list of some possible Thanksgiving and/or Christmas trips. If you can book a hotel now that’s refundable, go ahead and do it. As far as airfares go, do some searches and start looking at routes and prices for places on your list. If your choices are limited to one flight on specific days, you should book as soon as possible. If you have a few options and the flights seem pretty empty, go to Kayak and sign up for their Buzz e-mails which will let you monitor the price of a route daily and notify you when it hits the price you are looking for. The minute you see a good price, go ahead and book!

A lot of people have been asking me how I feel about the recent shakeups with various airlines.

When an airline folds, there isn’t much you can do. If you have travel insurance, you should be able to recoup your monetary losses, unless you bought the policy directly from the airline which is now belly up. If you are booking an expensive trip, you should always carry insurance with a company separate from the one you are traveling with and be sure you are covered if an operator goes out of business. Generally insurance must be purchased within a few days of making your reservations to include such coverage. Check out Insuremytrip.com for some travel insurance options.

The recent flight cancellations, most of them on American Airlines, were due to safety concerns that the carrier had to correct before allowing certain aircraft models to continue flying. Although airlines should be responsible and on top of these issues before they turn into a huge mess, incidents like this may happen occasionally. Hopefully, the airlines have learned a lesson from this debacle and it won’t happen on such a widespread scale again. If a flight is cancelled due to faulty aircraft, the offending airline must rebook affected passengers but the times and days of new flights will vary. My advice is to be calm with airline agents and get through the inconvenience as best you can. When you are finally home, don’t hesitate to call or write the airline about your experience and voice your complaints and concerns. If an airline does this to you repeatedly, and you have the option, take your business elsewhere.

As far as airline mergers go, don’t lose sleep over them. When Delta and Northwest merge, your miles will be safe and you will have more opportunities to earn them under one program. Yes, it could cause higher ticket prices due to reduced competition, but there are always going to be new routes and new airlines popping up and you will always be able to find deals.

Deep breaths…we can get through all of this and be ok!!

We’re used to removing our shoes when we go through airport security but that doesn’t mean we enjoy it. Who knows what germs are lurking on that dirty airport floor? Although most airports don’t provide foot covers, they are allowed. According to TSA rules, disposable booties are legal as long as you throw them away before leaving the security area. Many travel companies have been releasing such products and selling them for around $10 for a pack of 10 but hardware and safety supply stores carry shoe covers for much less. I bought 100 of these covers for just $6.47 and they work great on shoeless feet.

$8.99 Star Safety

Wondering how long the security line is before a flight? Now you can find out by texting the word “wait” and your three letter airport code (“wait LAS” for Las Vegas) to the number 44636. You’ll receive a response with wait times for all terminals in about a minute!

Not sure of your airport’s code? Check the post I wrote about codes here for ways you can find it.

Source: Real Simple travel

Dear Alena,

If I go to mainland Hawaii next month, I want to do some shopping there. What about canned goods? Should I mail them from my trip or is it safe for me to carry them back home?

Kelley in Hawaii

Sampling local food is a big part of travel and many people like bringing some home to enjoy later. Canned or jarred goods like jam or sauce fall into the liquid and gel category. As such, they are allowed in a checked bag without issue. If you want to carry them onto a flight, they must be 3 ounces or less and fit into one quart sized Ziploc bag with the rest of your liquids and gels.

The only exceptions to the liquid/gel rule would be items you bought in the airport after you had already passed through security. These items could be carried onto a plane without hassle but be advised that if you have a connecting flight and must go through security again, they may be confiscated at that point.

Mailing food home via postal service is a good option for canned or dry goods but might be trickier if you are mailing glass bottles or jars. If the package is going to be fragile, it’s best to ask the store you purchase the item at to ship it for you as they will have more experience packing it. In the U.S., another choice is a UPS Store (not to be confused with a regular UPS) or Mailboxes Etc. which offer packaging as well as shipping services. There is no legal way for an individual to mail alcohol so if you are buying wine or spirits, they will have to be shipped from the store directly.

Have a great trip!

Send your travel questions to alena@followalena.com

Every airport in the world is identified by a 3 letter code. Some are logical (New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport is JFK, Dublin is DUB) and others not so much (Toronto Airport is YTZ, Dubai is DXB).

Codes are important when checking luggage because bags end up in the city they are tagged for. Always confirm that the labels on your baggage are correct before they are sent down the check-in carousel. You can look up the codes of your arrival and departure airports on www.world-airport-codes.com or check your boarding pass as they are usually printed right on it.

Farecast, a travel search engine, allows you not only to search for flights, but track price trends and decide when to purchase tickets and when to wait for a lower fare. It has long been a favorite tool for travelers but many were disappointed it could only be used for domestic flights in the United States. Last Friday, the site made a huge announcement that it had added over 200 international destinations in Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean to its roster. Time to plan those spring and summer trips!

United Airlines announced a new checked baggage policy. Starting yesterday, any passengers who purchase tickets for travel on or after May 5, 2008 will be allowed to check one bag for free and a second bag for $25. Additional luggage will be permitted at a rate of $100 per bag for up to 4 bags. Customers with Premier Mileage Plus status, Silver Star Alliance status or above will be exempt from this new rule.