How to get three seats for the price of two on a plane

My husband's travel agent had this amazing idea that worked the last time we flew. Maybe everyone else already figured this out but it was a new idea to me, and a very brilliant idea at that!

So normally when I book seats on a flight for me and a friend/husband, I'll book them next to each other. Of course that leaves open the window or aisle, which will be snatched up first by other flyers.

Instead, when you book a flight you should book seats A and C for you and your travel companion, leaving the middle seat open. If someone does book this seat you can surprise them and tell them you'll give up the aisle so you can sit with your companion.

But no one will book the middle seats until all the aisles and window seats are taken so you are greatly increasing your chance of getting a free seat between you and your companion to spread out a bit more and be more comfortable on your flight.

$30 a bag for carry on?

Spirit Airlines announced today that it would begin charging $30 in advance and $45 at the gate for any carry on luggage that does not fit under the seat in front of you. This fee is actually higher than Spirit's fee to check luggage ($25/bag).

I have a feeling that passengers will protest by avoiding Spirit Airlines and as a result other airlines will not follow suit. I'm not sure why Spirit thought this would be a better idea than simply raising ticket prices by the same amount. Carrying luggage on the plane for free feels like an entitlement to most passengers and I think this new policy crosses the line. Read more here.

Credit Cards

I've posted before about signing up for an annual American Airlines rewards card to get 30,000 miles for free, and then cancelling before you're charged the first annual fee. I've done this a few years in a row and it paid for a trip to Buenos Aires.

Anyway my husband does this as well and tonight he called to cancel his card. They told him if he would keep the card for another night he would give him 3,000 miles.

His first free year doesn't even expire until June so we told them we accept the additional 3,000 miles. I'm kind of offended that when I cancelled my card a few months ago they didn't offer me 3,000! Anyway hopefully others can benefit from this advice and lobby their credit card companies to give them free things as well!

Travel Internationally for Free!

My husband Shawn and I avid travelers and love to go abroad. This past summer we went to Argentina but I didn't pay for my ticket. I got it free with American Airlines points. Last summer Shawn and I both went to a wedding in Los Angeles. Again both of our tickets were free because of our American Airlines points. We don't travel enough to have earned these points ourselves. We got them through the Citi American Airlines credit card.

Every year we both get credit card offers for Citi American Airlines. Basically they waive the credit card fee for the first year and if you spend $750 on the card in the first four months you get 30,000 bonus miles in your account. I sign up for this card, get the 30,000 miles, and then cancel. Every year I do the same thing. It costs 60,000 miles for international travel so every two years Shawn and I get a free international trip!

Some friends have stated that they are concerned that this plan will hurt their credit score. I definetely would not suggest this idea for my friends who have credit card debt or are about to purchase a home or who only have a $3,000 available in credit to them. However, your credit score is affected by your available credit to debt ratio. So if you have 50,000 available in credit and only have a $1,000 balance that you pay in full each month opening and closing one card a year probably isn't going to be detrimental to your score.

Decide for yourself. Know your credit score. Don't carry credit card debt. Buy your first home before the $8k first-time homebuyer credit expires this November!