A writer friend on the Levy tour with me in 2006 overnighted her make-up and other essentials to the hotel and only had one small carry-on that she packed incredibly well. It may be a solution for those items we must have. Not that Fed Ex is any cheaper. I cringed last time I had to overnight page proofs to NY. It was over $60. But paper is a bit heavier than Lancome . . .

Wow, Kathleen, I would still be pitching seven kinds of hell for them letting it go on the outbound, then charging for the inbound! If they’re gonna screw ya, you’d think they’d at least be consistent about it.

YAY, Cele, I’m all for the moped!

Elaine, I agree that until the airlines really feel the pinch from consumers nothing will be done about the price gouging. And, unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to happen. All the companies that send their sales reps from city to city would more than likely keep sending them no matter the price for fear they’d lose too much business if they didn’t.

Good for you, Harvey!

Lawd, who’s charging for blankets and pillows, Amanda? Wow, these airline guys are really asking for a revolution, aren’t they?

Oh, Cyndi, don’t even get me started about TSA! From power-hungry jerks to people who couldn’t care less if you were carrying a ten pound bomb strapped to your back….

Terry, it sure sounds like you did luck out. Fingers crossed that your Medallion status keeps you lucky! My status is nothing more than ‘frustrated broad with a ticket,’ so I’ll be lucky if they don’t wind up charging me just to carry on my purse. arggg

But we also noticed that Delta is going to be charging $50 for the second bag, and I don’t know what our Medallion status will grant us on our next trip in October for the Emerald City conference. I know we can’t afford to drive there from Orlando.

Somewhere down the line, there have to be compromises. The poor workers, after all, don’t get raises every time gas prices go up, or food costs more, or the electric company needs more money. No, we just pay. And pay. And pay.

(Cyndi-my mom had a knee replacement and she carries some kind of card that she shows to the TSA people, I think. Then again, I wore a long skirt on a recent trip and I had to wait to be patted down. Crazy, because my normal travel outfit is a dress that’s almost the same length, but nobody’s ever gotten up close and personal about it.)

I posted the story of my last plane ride at my blog. I haven’t flown since I had a total knee replacement (last fall). I’m thinking I’ll be setting off all the alarms at the TSA check-point.

I’ll be traveling in my RV, thank you.

When people stop flying and let the airlines know that the reason they aren’t flying is that they’re being charged too freaking much for everything and are being treated badly besides.

And excuse me, isn’t the escalating price of airline passage rising because of the price of fuel? So why a double duty charge for the luggage? What do you mean you can’t afford to give me a bottle of water when I just paid $500 for a 45 minute flight? First is was the oil companies making billions in profits from gouging consumers, now it’s going to be the airline industry.

I quit. I’ll moped to California next time if I have to.