It's beginning to get very expensive to travel and take luggage with you.

In my local newspaper today there was an article titled "Pack light or pay up: Fliers cling to baggage-check fees." The story goes on to talk about how airlines started charging some passengers $15 or more to check their bags and they blamed it on soaring fuel costs. Price of oil has gone way down since then, but are the baggage fees going away?

The answer is no! Airlines are still charging passengers to fly with a suitcase that isn't carry on size and can fit in the overhead bin or under the seat. So what does a family of 4 need to do when they travel since your first bag on most airlines will cost you $15 and the second bag is $25?

My suggestion is to get as much as you can into your carry on, without violating TSA restrictions of course. You'll need to be very careful about the lotions, shampoos, and other bath and body products you decide to carry in your duffel bag. Travel size products and trial size come in very handy here. Most are less than 3 oz and won't cause you any problems as you go through security. You can even pack these in your checked luggage which will help alleviate having to pay for the "Heavy" bags that exceed the 50-55lbs. I recall being charged $50 one time for having a bag that was less than 5 lbs over the permitted checked luggage weight.

Most travelers can find tons of great deals on 5 piece luggage sets and 8 piece luggage sets and suitcases. Some set size most pieces at carry on size and since each traveling member of your party is allowed 1 carry on item with one personal item, this makes avoided the checked bag problem a possibility. It doesn't appear that the airline are going to stop charging these fees any time soon because they are still loosing money because of the recession and the airlines are finding these fees to be a reliable source of income for them. So not only are you going to pay for a meal on your trip, a pillow, blanket, headset or drink, you'll be paying luggage fees to for quite some time.

One way to get around this might be picking an airline you like to fly with and achieve one of their Elite, or at least, Preferred members status in their frequent flier clubs, or you can travel first class. Right now, the only airline not charging baggage fees is Southwest Airlines but they don't fly to some major cities like Boston, Atlanta and/or Miami. One wonders how long Southwest can continue like this though, it could change in the near future.

Now more than ever, travelers are shopping around for the best vacation deals and packages they can find and the term "Discount Travel" has become more important than ever. Since you can't avoid airline fees for luggage and food, you can at least shop around and get the best discount airfare possible. Please be sure and stop by my store and see what special deals we have going on for luggage and luggage sets that might just help you avoid the fees.

Happy Travels!