fee, which can range from $95 to
more than $500, depending on
the card. For example, flyers who
carry the Gold Delta American
Express SkyMiles card can check
in one suitcase at no additional
charge (worth up to $60 in savings
on round-trip flights) when they
fly Delta. They also get to be
among the first to board, meaning
they won’t have to compete for
overhead bin space. There’s no
annual fee the first year, and it’s
$95 after that.
The Delta Reserve AmericanExpress card offers early
boarding, free checked bags
for up to eight members of the
cardholder’s traveling party,
access to airport lounges for the
cardholder, and other benefits for
$550 a year. The Citi/AAdvantage
Executive World Elite Mastercard
offers many similar perks to
American Airlines ticket holders
for $450 a year.
CARRY A
PILLOWCASE
AND CUSHIONIf your airline provides you with
a pillow, it might not come with
a clean cover, which means you
could end up with one slobbered
on by a previous passenger. Your
own pillow may be too bulky to
carry onboard, but stowing a small
pillowcase in your carry-on won’t
take up much room and can make
standard-issue airline pillows
seem cleaner and more appealing.
A lightweight and portable seatcushion can also provide added
comfort, especially on long flights.
“I bring a memory foam seat pad
with me when I know I’ll be flying
long distances in economy class,”
says George Hobica, the founder of
Airfarewatchdog.
Carry-on rules can be strictly
enforced, so make sure that
any cushion you bring can be
placed in —or snapped onto—your
carry-on bag.BRING NOISE-
CANCELING
HEADPHONESA good set will offer some peace
and quiet by reducing the
sounds of engine drone, crying
babies, and chatty passengers.
CR’s highest-rated wireless
portable headphones are the
Bose QuietControl 30, $300,
which earn a rating of Excellent,
with an Overall Score of 87. The
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC100BT
headphones, $100, are a CR Best
Buy with an Overall Score of 68
and a rating of Very Good.CREATE
A COMFORT KITMost airlines give premium
passengers amenity kits to make
them feel pampered. (Delta even
offers pared-down versions to
passengers in the main cabin.) To
make your own, pop travel-sized
items into a zippered cosmetics
case (toothbrush, toothpaste,
lotion, hand sanitizer, wipes,
and lip balm), plus an eye mask,
earplugs, a comb or brush, and
a pair of no-show or ankle-high
socks to keep your feet warm
when your shoes are off.
—Octavio Blanco(^) Concerns for
Flying Families
IT MAY BE hard to believe, but it’s legal
for a U.S. airline to seat a toddler far
away from its parents on a flight. CR
reviewed more than 100 consumer
complaints related to family seating
filed with the Department of
Transportation from March 2016
through November 2018 and uncovered
multiple cases in which children under
5 years old were seated apart from the
adults traveling with them. In 12 cases,
children 3 years old or younger were
separated from their parents; in two
cases, children as young as 1 were
seated apart from their parents. There
were also occasions in which airlines
refused to seat children who suffered
from seizures or were autistic next to
their parents.
Among the concerns parents voiced
in their complaints to the DOT were
that they wouldn’t be able to assist
their children in an emergency and
that children sitting on their own
would be at risk for sexual assault. (The
FBI has investigated cases in which
victims of sexual assault on airplanes
were as young as 8 years old.) In some
of the complaints, parents who were
separated from their children said they
resorted to asking strangers to trade
seats. When that failed, families were
asked to leave the plane or they chose to
leave out of concern for their children.
Airlines often imposed or attempted
to impose additional fees to allow
parents to sit with young children, says
William J. McGee, an aviation adviser to
CR who reviewed the complaints. In the
worst cases, families who had to rebook
their flight to ensure they were seated
together paid thousands of dollars more
than their original fare. In one instance
a family paid $4,341 more; in another,
the additional cost came to $14,084.
As part of the Federal Aviation
Administration Reauthorization Act,
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SECRETS TO STRESS-FREE TRAVEL
46 CR.ORG FEBRUARY 2020