Let’s face it, airline fees suck and as the economy keeps going down the tubes, the airline companies need to find ways to get more money out of their customers.  From charging for checked in bags to charging for food, there are many steps you can take in order to avoid all of these airline fees.  Here are some ways you can avoid the common airline fees.

Booking Through A Third Party
No matter how you book your ticket, you should never book through a third party candidate like Orbitz or Expedia.  Instead, you should use these carriers as a search engine.  When you find a ticket that you want to purchase, book directly through the airline to avoid the booking fee.  Sites such as Orbitz will charge you a few dollars per ticket. 

Stick With Your Seat
A lot of airlines are starting to charge you for choosing your seat.  This may be a shock to some of you but there’s a simple way to avoid this charge, don’t pick out your seat.  Sometimes it’s nice to have extra leg room or an aisle seat but if you find yourself choosing your seat now, you’ll probably be paying a few bucks extra. 

Checked Bags
A few years ago, airlines never thought of charging for checked in bags.  Today, most airlines are charging you for checked-in bags.  Depending on the airline, some airlines will charge you for one bag but others may charge on the second bag.  If your airline will charge you for a second bag, try and stuff everything into one bag and take a carry on.  If the airline charges you for one bag, you can either eat up the costs or ship your bags ahead of time.   Both ways will probably equal out to be the same price.

Bring Your Own Food
Just about every airline today is going to charge you for food, headphones, drinks, and everything else under the sun.  If you can try and bring all of this stuff on your own, you’ll be able to avoid the charges the airlines charge you.  Food isn’t cheap on an airline and you will find sandwiches ranging from $5 to as much as $15 and trust me, it’s not worth it.  If you pack your lunches and snacks ahead of time, you’ll save a ton of money.  Be aware though that you can’t bring drinks past the check in gate, so make sure you get your drinks at a convenience shop inside of the airport.

Don’t Do Phone Reservations
If you’re looking to purchase tickets in the near future, don’t book your tickets over the phone.  Most airlines today will charge you for making reservations over the phone.  Anything from $5 and on.  A easy way to avoid this is to simply book online or have a relative or friend help you if you unfamiliar on how the Internet booking process works.

Watch The Pet Fees
If you have a pet and you want to bring it on board, you may want to look at how much the airline charges you.  You probably will change your mind when you find out how much they will charge you.  To be honest, there’s no reason you should bring your pet on the airline anyway.  Skippy will be just fine at home with a babysitter or will be just fine at a kennel.  Plus, you’ll be saving your pet a stressful situation because no animals like flying!

Are you visiting Abilene, Texas for a while?  If so, you may be unaware of some of the great restaurants in the area.  Abilene is a great city and there is always something to do.  With all the fun places to go and see, and the great restaurants, what else could you ask for?  If you’re looking for a great place to dine and get together with your family and friends check out these top 3 restaurants in Abilene, Texas:

Harold’s Pit Bar-B-Q - This is voted the #1 restaurant out of all Abilene’s Texas’s fine restaurants.  Visitors say “It’s the best you’ll get.”  The excellent food and the reasonable prices, make it easy to understand why it is the best restaurant.  Harold’s Pit Bar-B-Q is known for it’s excellent BBQ food and great service, come check it out!

Lytle Land and Cattle Company - This is also a great place to dine when visiting Abilene, Texas!  The food is great, and all of it’s visitors leave full and happy.  This is a great place to go as a family or just an outting for friends.  Lytle Land and Cattle Company has a reputation for serving the best steaks!  If you’re real hungry and have a bit appetite come on in to Lyltle Land and Cattle Company!

Joe Allen’s Pit Bar B Que - Do you love BBQ food?  If so this place is for you!  Joe Allen’s is also known for their great steaks and excellent food.  Many people drive out of the way to just come and get one of their steaks, that’s how good it is!  This is a great place to dine as a family or with friends.  Come in if you have a big appetite, they’ll take care of that!

Abilene, Texas has many restuarants in the city.  These top three restaurants are the top ranked out of all of them!  They are known for the best food, service and atmosphere.  Get your family and friends together and have a great meal in Abilene, Texas!

Are you heading your way towards a vacation in Atlanta, Georgia?  If so you may of heard there are almost 200 fun attractions to see and do.  If you’re staying for only a short visit you may not know where to go in such little time to make the best of your vacation.  According to many reviews and surveys the top 3 things to do in Atlanta, Georgia are listed below:

1. Atlanta History Center - The Atlanta History Center was rated #1 out of all Atlanta’s attractions.  This history center is known for a great way to spend your afternoon.  There you will find a 33-acre center that contains forests, and gardens, including the mile-long Swan Woods Trail.  You will also get a glimpse into the lives of the Georgian farmers at the Tullie Smith Farm.
2. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site - This historic site is known as a “don’t miss.”  Tourists are always very happy when they leave this historic site due to the great tour guides, and service of the site.  The MLK Jr. National Historic Site not only includes MLK’s birth home but also his memorial.  This is rated #2 out of Atlanta’s 197 attractions!
3. Atlanta Botanical Garden - Atlanta’s botanical garden is a great way to spend your afternoon with your friends and family.  Come spend a nice relaxing afternoon at one of the top rated attractions in Atlanta, Georgia.  The garden is a wonderful place for both children and adults, featuring a realistic rain forest environment complete with exotic birds, hundreds of tiny tree frogs, and turtles.

If you’re heading towards Atlanta, Georgia be sure to check out some of these top attractions!  These 3 attractions are good for spending an easy laid back day with your friends and family.  Have fun!

If you’re currently carrying a Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card, American Express has launched a very cool new website that will help you use your points.  If you don’t have the credit card, let me point out some of the features included with this card –

Earn 10,000 Starpoints^® with your first purchase¹ - enough for up to 3 free nights at a Category 1 or 2 hotel.²

Plus - earn an additional 15,000 Starpoints when you spend $15,000 in 6 months.³

Use Starpoints for free nights and upgrades at over 860 participating Starwood hotels and resorts in 95 countries.

Transfer Starpoints - almost always on a 1:1 basis - to the frequent flyer programs of over 30 major airlines.⁴

Earn one Starpoint for every dollar of eligible spending⁵ and double Starpoints at participating Starwood properties and retail outlets.⁶

Pay no annual fee for the first year and only $45 thereafter.⁷

The Starwood card is by far one of the best hotel/airline credit cards.  If it sounds like something you could use, check out the application page.

Looking at the new feature…

Now that we know how to the card works, I’ll talk a little bit about the new feature AMEX has launched.  With this new feature, you’ll be able to search airline tickets and see how many ponts you’ll need to directly purchase them.  When you make the purchase, the points will be deducted from the balance.

I did a quick search and the search works just like any other airline website out there.  Simply put in where you’re leaving and where you want to go at what times and it will show you the available airlines you can fly and how many starpoints you’ll need.  It’ll give you a good idea on how much you’ll need to spend to get a ticket during a certain time period.

Whether you’re planning a trip to Boise, Idaho or you’re living in the area, you may have found that there are literally thousands of restaurants that you can eat at.  Since most of us get sick and tired of eating at corporate restaurants, it’s always nice to go off the beaten path and eat at a mom and pop shop.  99% of the times, this is the best way to go because nothing beats home cooking.  According to some of our research, here are the top three Boise, Idaho restaurants in our opinion.

Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro

If you’re a morning person or you simply like breakfast, it’s almost impossible to find an open seat at Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro.  Chances are if you show up at this restaurant early in the morning, you’re going to have to wait but everyone will tell you that it’s well worth it.  Goldy’s is known for patrons being able to create their own breakfast combo.  With these combos, you’re able to choose your choice of meats, breads, potatoes, and everything else.

Guido’s Original New York

If you’re  a fan of pizza or anything Italian, you may want to check out Guido’s Original New York in downtown Boise.  Whether you want a pizza slice or you want a pizza and salad for the whole family, they have it all.  From a friendly staff to a killer atmosphere, you can definitely notice that you’re in an Italian pizza type atmosphere.

Kyoto Japanese Steak House

If you’re looking for a place to take your family for not only entertainment and great food, this is a place to check out.  At Kyoto, the servers will cook up the food right in front of you with neat little tricks.  Kyoto is on the pricey side but if you’re looking to take someone out for a date or a night of great entertainment and great food, you may want to consider the Kyoto steakhouse.  The steakhouse features everything from Steaks to seafood to sushi.