Nothing draws attention like a “Buy One, Get One” free offer from an airline. Recently, Spirit Airlines ran a two and a half day sale, from December 22 -24, promising just that.

The asterisk leads to the inevitable phrase:

*MOUSE PRINT: “Additional terms and conditions apply.”

One expects there to be rules such as registering for the promotion on their website, being a member of their frequent flier program, etc.  What travelers may not have expected was lurking in the fine print.

*MOUSE PRINT:

On or about 7/15/2009 Spirit will e-mail qualified vouchers.

[Spririt will] issue a voucher in the name of the passenger that traveled in the amount of the reservation purchased less taxes and fees (please note that for domestic tickets the base fare includes 7 ½% Federal Excise Tax which will also not be included in the created voucher). 

Translation: You have to wait until seven months from purchase — next July 15th — to get your voucher!  It is not for the full price you paid. And further down in the fine print is the notation that the “free trip” is only good Sept 9, 2009 through November 18, 2009 — nine to eleven months after purchase.  The voucher will also be sent in your name and is not transferable.

Who knows if Spirit Airlines will even be in business next fall?

Over the past few weeks, some airlines announced new fees and policies for members of their frequent flier programs. Delta’s new charges for Skymiles members somehow seemed more obnoxious than most:

*MOUSE PRINT:

– Awards booked less than 21 days before travel will incur fees of $75, $100, or $150; while booking 21 or more days in advance is fee-free.

– There will be a $25 fuel surcharge for domestic flights, and $50 internationally.

– Miles needed for a domestic coach roundtrip will now be 25,000, 40,000 or 60,000. (Funny how the cheap 25,000 point seats always seem to be unavailable.) The site cleverly makes you think they lowered the number of miles needed by displaying the number for a ONE-WAY trip rather than the traditional (and still required) roundtrip:

– If one segment of your trip is on a partner airline, there is an additional $25 partner fee.

– Miles will now expire two years from the date of the last qualifying activity in your account.  Previously, they gave you until December 31st of the year two years after your last activity.  The effect of this to further shorten the life of your miles, so they can wipe out your account sooner.

Remember the good old days when a free ticket really was a free tickert? Well, at least as the New Times says, the airsickness bags are still free.

Sandals, a group of all-inclusive Caribbean resorts, is offering a seemingly amazing offer: Stay at their resort and they will fly you there free.

Are there any catches? Of course there are. It is for bookings made by September 2, for travel through December 20, 2009. The problem is with respect to the free airfare:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“Offer fulfilled as credit toward land portion of booking, based on double occupancy, minimum 3 night stay, $350 airfare per person for travel to Jamaica or Bahamas; $450 per person for travel to St. Lucia; $550 per person for travel to Antigua.”

Can you really fly to their locations for the amounts they will reimburse?  Checking Boston to Freeport, Grand Bahamas, for a week from January 24 – 31, 2009, reveals the lowest airfares to be $388 to $401, not including luggage and travel agents fees. Their $350 credit would not quite cover the fare. (Fares to Nassau were slightly cheaper, though, being $336 to $343 at the low end.)

Fares to Jamaica were $317 to $325 on the low end, so assuming you ordered airline tickets now, your airfare would indeed be free. On the other hand, fares to St. Lucia were $704 on the low end, and Sandals’ $450 allowance is way below the actual fare. For Antigua, fares were $627 to $706 for the cheapest flights, most leaving before 6am. Their $550 reimbursement is $75 to $150 short of the actual fare.

How do they get away with advertising “fly free” when in many cases you will have to pay at least a portion of the airfare?

*MOUSE PRINT: “In some cases, offer may not cover all airfare costs, taxes, and fuel surcharges.” The inconspicuous disclaimer may not get them off the hook should a state consumer office go after them.

Of course, depending on the dates you fly, airfares will vary. And if you book now, but wait to buy your tickets closer to your vacation date, the reimbursement will likely come up quite short for all itineraries because airfares will likely be skyhigh by December 2009 when the offer expires.

Priceline is making an intriguing offer for travelers this summer — guaranteed sunshine!  “If your vacation is rained out, it’s free!”

Of course, the devil is in the details:

*MOUSE PRINT:

1. You must buy a vacation (hotel, airfare), not just airfare.

2. Sunshine is not guaranteed. If it is cloudy every day, no refund is due.

3. The big string is the amount of rain necessary to trigger a full refund: it must rain at least 1/2 inch for at least half the days of your trip. For a five day trip, it has to rain on three of the days. For an eight day trip, it has to rain on four of the days. Again, at least 1/2 inch of rain on EACH of the rainy days is required.

How likely is it that you will have so many days of heavy rain on your vacation?  Of course, it depends on the location you choose (only US destinations qualify). Checking to see how much actual rain different cities get per day, suggests you are unlikely to ever trigger a refund under Priceline’s guarantee. For example, in June 2008, in the Seattle area – a region known for being wet — there was more than a half inch of rain only on one day that month. [See chart]

In Ft. Lauderdale in June, it was quite rainy. But in a stretch of 10 days when it rained every day, only two non-consecutive days qualified. [See chart]

On the positive side, Priceline’s “no rain” guarantee is free. And your refund will be automatic if your trip meets the bad weather criteria it has set.

Bottomline: don’t count on a free trip.

Many major airlines (Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, and US Airways) are limiting the number of bags you can check free to one per coach passenger, effective May 5, 2008. UPDATE: American Airlines just announced it will limit the free allowance to one bag for tickets purchased on or after May 12, 2008.

Some people will be exempt from the new charges. As one example, here is who gets a free pass at Delta:

*MOUSE PRINT: “Business Elite® and First Class passengers are allowed 3 checked bags at no charge up to 70 lbs. ” [see checked baggage rule]

What are the fees if you go over the limit at Delta for coach passengers?

*MOUSE PRINT:

So the first extra bag is $25 each way, but additional bags can be as high as $180 each way. And if you are flying overseas, forget it. They could ding you for as much $600 each way.

To add insult to injury, Delta still maintains other baggage rules that must be complied with, or you will be assessed an additional penalty:

*MOUSE PRINT:

*MOUSE PRINT: Delta actual says:

You’ll be charged an excess baggage fee each time you go over any one of the free allowances.

For example, if you have an extra piece of baggage that goes over the weight limit and the size limit, then you’ll be charged 3 times:

• once for the extra bag,
• once for going over the size limit, and
• once for going over the weight limit.

Fees are for each additional bag, each way.

In other words, you will be triple surcharged. If that was your second bag, it would cost you $25 for going over the limit, plus $80 more because it was too heavy, plus $150 more because it was oversized. That is $255 in all. And the charge is each way.

The rules vary airline to airline. Here is a summary of airline baggage policies with links to the actual policy detail.

The friendly skies are looking anything but friendly these days.