if he remembers what newscast it was you can look the stories up online... I did a simple search and found nothing

I just made reservations on Continential yesterday and they informed me my bike charge would be $125.00 each way, Texas to Boston. I was cringing, but what are you gonna do?

For some triathletes the increased bike costs that airlines charge may not affect them because either they can afford it or they can choose to ship it via FedEx, UPS, etc.

I am one of those triathletes that will choose to only do local races within driving distance. No more traveling races for me. I could afford it but am choosing not to pay the increased cost that airlines are now charging. I've had bad experiencing shipping my bike though a mail carrier. It's too bad but the cost of fuel and the economy makes it too expensive and not worth paying almost double the fee to take a bike box on an airplane.

How many others are choosing to only do local races within driving distance too?

I just flew to the Eagleman race 2 weekends ago. I flew Northwest. You can sometimes do your own self check-in. On the way there they had no self check-in so they did it and charged me $100.00 for the bike. On the way back (BWI), they had self check-in, it prints off the labels that attach to your luggage. I did that and a handler put one label on my luggage bag and one on the bike bag, he asked me what was in the bike bag..I said..ummmm..."triathlon equipment"..he's like okay....let it go. So at least I only had to pay one way, it's hit or miss though.
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Southwest has kept their bike charge at $50. We booked flights for my husband to go to cycling Masters Nationals at the end of June and bike transport costs had to become part of the equation in determining the cheapest fare. Although Southwest didn't have the cheapest outright fare, by the time you put in bike costs, it was by far the best bet. I don't know if they fly to Boston, though.

Southwest does not fly to Boston. They go to Providence, which is do-able, but the dates I needed to use a free ticket were all blacked out! Then they told me there were "upgraded" free seats on the flights I needed if I was willing to "upgrade" and use two free tickets rather than one. We have always loved SW and fly them so much that I have the companion pass and travel free anywhere my husband goes. It really ticked me off. They are losing their advantages and becoming just like all the other airlines. After weighing all my options, the free ticket would have been two free tickets, and necessitated going other days and paying for additional hotels, it wasn't worth it. Texas to Boston with the bike charge has now become over $800.00. It's a shame, but I don't feel air travel will ever be the same in this country. It's mass transit that is unfortunately becoming more and more expensive. In the future, I will try to pick races that coincide with places my family is vacationing anyway.

Something regarding SW to be aware of. My husband's bag disappeared when he went to get it after flying home on a business trip. He normally flies United but his Co put him on SW for this trip.

Turns out that SW does not bar code one luggage like the otehr airlines so there is no way to trace it if its gets lost. They can only take a description and e-mail it to other SW locations to see if there is a similar bar around & hope it will show up. That was pretty worthless trying to work. They didn't seem very helpful trying to resolve this as it's pretty common & not anything they can do. If it doesn't show up in 2 days its most likely been stolen. They also said they get at the local Sw airport at least 5 stolen luggage/month. Had me concerned about flying with my skis & bikes. Barb