I'll Fly Away, Oh, Lord, No

I'm boycotting air travel. At least, until I have to go somewhere that I can't get to in a car. It seems that every day brings news of some new surcharge or fee or what-have-you added to the indignity of being crowded into a tubular sardine can at 35,000 feet for four or more hours if and when you get off the ground. Rarely on time. The latest game the airlines are playing is charging extra if you want to fly on certain dates during the year. This is in addition to the baggage fees and the extra fees if you actually want to pick out your seat ahead of time. Otherwise, you'll wind up sitting where they damn well plop you if you are so bold as to not pay the extortion fee ahead of time. I'm also boycotting hotels that don't disclose upfront what their fees are. It's the same game the airlines are playing: come in with the lowest possible "fare" to snag your business, then pile on the added fees. So we are staying at a hotel in Charleston that costs "more" than the others, but not really. It's just that this hotel includes its parking fee, its internet access fee, its hot breakfast fee into the room rate. So the rate you pay is the "drive out" price: no tricks, no gimmicks, just one rate that includes everything you would expect when you rent a hotel room. Other hotels came in with lower rates, but that was before you started adding in all the nickel-and-dime charges. And some of them make you go to extraordinary lengths to find out what their parking or internet access fees are. "Oh, you wanted linens on the beds? Cha-ching."