"Tubby Tax" not such a bad idea, I have to pay for my bike afterall.

It has been long known by active travelers that when you chose to travel with a bike, surfboard, golf clubs, etc. you get charged for the odd size luggage AND even additional weight. For example, a bike costs about $100 due to the 'over sized' luggage policies of many airlines. And, if the bike case weights more than 50 pounds, you can expect an average of about $50 extra for the 'excess weight' fee on top of the oversized fee. So, a new idea being batted around does not seem so outrageous. As a matter of fact, it seems down right fair.

The idea, surprisingly proposed by health experts and not the airlines, is having obese travelers pay extra fees due to their weight. Why not? The plan is simply to have obese travelers pay for each kilo they weigh above a set limit, in the same way as excess baggage has to be paid for. The ever increasing waistlines mean airlines are being forced to revise their projected passenger loads to calculate extra fuel needs. And that costs money we all are paying, despite me weighing a svelte 150 pounds and fitting easily into 1 seat assigned to me.

I get it when I travel with a bike, so why not for those carrying around an excessive amount of extra pounds. Sure, you could try to make it into a moral or discrimination issue, but the reality is, I am 'discriminated' against for carrying on a bike case and pay the price. And a traveller who attempts to carry on 5 bags or a 75 pound bag is also "discriminated" against and asked to pay extra fees. So really, what is the difference? Because it is in the cabin, and on a human in the form of skin it should matter?

Dr. John Tickell, an expert in nutrition and weight control who heads the Australian team making the proposal, says it clearly and concisely when he states:

"Airlines are buying fuel and if you are carrying a heavy weight on a plane it is you who should be paying for it. But instead, the rest of the public is paying for it and it has to be stopped."

We think this is a legitimate idea that needs further study and consideration. It may even have the positive side affect of helping spur some obese people into finally addressing their obese condition.

Bush makes an effort to make this travel season easier on us

Bush released a 4 point plan recently, which goes into affect next week for the holiday travel, as an effort to stem the dread of holiday travel. Dread I expect to be fully living next week. (I already have my airport gym picked out just in case I get that massive layover.)

The key points of the plan are:

• Open unused military airspace: This will be from Florida to Maine with the goal of creating "a Thanksgiving express lane" for commercial airliners. It will be open next week for five days — Wednesday through Sunday — for the busiest days of Thanksgiving travel.
  
• Imposing a holiday moratorium on nonessential maintenance projects: this allows all FAA personnel and equipment to be focused on keeping flights on time.
  
• DOT will propose doubling the bump fee that airlines must pay: This is for those travelers who buy tickets but wind up without a seat. The penalty now is $200 or $400, depending on how long the passenger has been inconvenienced. The proposed increase would make the fee $400 to $800. NOTE: this would not go into affect until the Summer of '08 if accepted.
  
• Increase efficiency efforts: rerouting airspace, using technology to fill unused space in the air and on the ground, and using more precise routes for takeoffs and landings.
  
• Make airlines liable for penalties for chronically delayed flights.
  

Take it for what it is worth... but it is an effort I suppose.

From 1 to 2... Delta's tricky nonstop change up.. SURPRISE!

Another travel blog had an interesting report I couldn't help but mention here as it caught my eye. They reported a dirty trick that Delta has reportedly pulled on more than 1 of it's travelers.

The trick... you buy a cheap nonstop ticket at a price so low they then decide they do not like it, so they rebook you on a flight that not only has a connection/layover, but often with worse times and flights than you originally, and legitimately, booked and paid for.

The blog sums it up simply by reporting, "[sic] hypothesizes that the airline is pre-bumping the cheap-seat customers to less convenient flights so they can continue to sell higher-priced tickets on the most desirable nonstop routes. And unfortunately, this is highly plausible."

Part of the real slap in the face here is that we all spend countless hours and days and weeks seeking out just the perfect flight combinations of price, connections, flight times, only to have the airline undo all the work we did in a few minutes with little or no concern to the fact that what you did was just use their system and booked what they offered.

It just gets better and better out there. Those airlines are down with whatever.... whatever it takes that works for them that is.

MAJOR airport gym listing updates made!!

We have been stockpiling a plethora of updates to our FREE online airport gym and airport fitness center listings that have come in from our users over the past months. Our racing schedule has kept us busy, so we did not have time to make full updates. Now, with the end of the race season, we took a few days to catch up.

We updated DOZENS of existing listings today AND added a dozen more new listings and even added a few states we never had listings for!

Just a few of the states affected: NY, TX, FL, GO, ID, MASS, MT, MD, OH, DC, CO, IA, MH, WI, HI, NC, NV, IN....... and many more

check it out today