Spirit Waives Bag Fees – What Could Happen Next?

How much will you be charged for that hotel stay? The answer, of course, should be obvious: You’ll pay the published rate, plus government-imposed taxes and fees. Whatever that total turns out to be is your price.

Vegas has come a long way, baby. No longer a Mecca for gambling and other less licit activities, the city has become synonymous with family fun, world-class dining, and big-name entertainment.

WOW Air, the Iceland-based no-frills carrier that raised eyebrows with its $99 fares from Boston and Baltimore to Iceland a year ago, now has something in common with Spirit Airlines, the U.S. carrier notorious for its nickel-and-diming and generally customer-unfriendly ways.

To seasoned travelers, the words “program updates” are the ultimate buzzkill, foreshadowing a raft of customer-unfriendly changes to the loyalty programs they’re invested in.

Is the state of air travel improving? Not according to the DOT, which just released its Air Travel Consumer Report for 2015.

Beginning on June 1, Spirit will become the third airline to pull out of the Cuba market altogether, joining Frontier and Silver Airways. Two other airlines, American and JetBlue, have cut capacity on their Cuba flights, either by reducing frequency or downgrading to smaller planes.

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) have a novel proposal to alleviate the expected congestion at airport security checkpoints this summer. In a letter sent this week to executives at 12 U.S. airlines, the senators called on the carriers to “suspend bag fees for the summer”:

Could Spirit, the airline everybody loves to hate, become a bit less hateful? If the company’s new CEO has his way, it will do just that.

Enter the United Airlines “Billion Mile Giveaway” sweepstakes by September 30, 2016, for a chance to win one of 100 grand prizes of 1 million United MileagePlus miles, plus $750 to cover taxes, each. Runner-up prizes include smaller numbers of miles. In total, 1 billion miles will be given away.

Beginning today, many visitors to Disney theme parks will pay more for the privilege of posing for selfies with Mickey & Co. But some will pay less. And others will pay a so-called regular rate, that is actually a price increase. Yes, it’s complicated.

As reported by USA Today, lawmakers in Missouri are expected to pass a bill that will amend the state’s liquor law to allow travelers to take alcoholic drinks with them to their boarding gates.

At a time when the distaste of consumers and the scrutiny of lawmakers would seem sufficient to shame hotels into ending their widely derided resort fees, Caesars Entertainment is doing the opposite.