United – Rated the healthiest airline by DietDetective.com, United offers a good variety. The “Rightbite” or “Smartpack” snack boxes might be your best bet. Especially the Smartpack, which is full of all-natural or organic munchies with no trans-fats. Price: $6.

U.S. Airways – Avoid the carbohydrate-packed In-Flight Cafe Snack Box, with its sugar cookies and grape jelly. Go for something more substantial, like the turkey-ham on molasses bread. The mayo is on the side, and it comes with a cup of yogurt. Price: $7.

Midwest Airlines – Steer clear of the complimentary baked-on-board cookies, delicious but high in calories (240 calories for two). Choose the cranberry nut mix, which has just enough protein and fiber to keep you satisfied, or Newman’s Own organic dried fruit. Price: $4. 

Delta – Formerly serving up some of the least healthy airline food, Delta seems to have turned over a new leaf. Now, on flights longer than about two and a half hours, you can select from healthier meal and snack options – e.g., yogurt with fresh fruit and granola for breakfast ($3) or hummus with veggies for lunch ($8).

JetBlue – Snacks are included in the ticket price on JetBlue, and you can ask for as many as you want… so the biggest health risk here is eating too many. Try to stick with one package of peanuts or animal crackers. 

QUICK TIP: Ask your reservations agent about special meals. Vegetarian, kosher, and Muslim meals, for example, are often lower in fats and high in whole grains and beans. Continental and United also offer low-fat and low-calorie meals. 

[Ed. Note: Stay up-to-date with the latest travel tools, tricks, and tips by signing up for The Right Way to Travel FREE e-letter, brought to you by the AWAI Travel Division. Sign up here.

Which airline, in your experience, has the best food? Let us know here.]

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American’s Platinum status means more bonus miles, no checked-bag fees, priority check-in, free admission to their Admiral’s Club airport lounges (international flights only), extra first-class upgrade credits, and priority boarding.

You won’t find the Platinum Challenge on American’s website. Here’s what to do: 

1. Call American’s customer service line and ask to participate in the Platinum Challenge. You’ll have 90 days to accumulate 10,000 points. 

2. Before you buy your next airline ticket, determine the number of miles you could fly on each leg of your flight. You can do that on the American Airlines website (www.aa.com), by doing a search under “Price & Schedule” and clicking on “flight details.”

3. After choosing the legs of your flight, click on “View Fare Rules and On-Time Flight Information” to figure out how many points those miles are worth.

• G, N, O, Q, S classes are discount fares, earning 0.5 points per mile.

• H, K, L, M, V, W are discount fares, but earn 1 point per mile.

• A, F, P, D, I, J, B, Y are premium fares, earning 1.5 points per mile. 

If you’ve got more than one flight planned in a 90-day period (or one long international trip), consider American’s Platinum Challenge to get the upgraded status. 

[Ed. Note: Sign up FREE for The Right Way to Travel e-letter - a 4-times-a-week dispatch - and get tons of insider secrets like this.]

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The Department of State started issuing the smaller cards in July. You can’t use them for air travel or for travel to any countries outside the above list… but in every other way, the cards act just like a full passport.

You can apply for a card as a renewal to your passport, or apply for both at the same time. Get more details on the Department of State website.

[Ed. Note: Stay up-to-date with the latest travel tools, tricks, and tips by signing up for The Right Way to Travel FREE e-letter from AWAI's Travel Division. Sign up here.]

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1. National Fee Relief: Expedia.com

To encourage you to keep traveling while the economy dips and dives, Expedia.com’s National Fee Relief sale cuts the booking fees on all hotels in the United States through December 1.

2. Baggage Fee Reimbursement Programs

• The Chamberlain Hotel, The Avalon Hotel, and Maison 140 (all in L.A.) have a “Money Bags” promotion that reimburses guests for the extra baggage fees they’re charged by the airlines. (Per reservation, up to $75 in hotel credit.)

• Loews Hotels’ “Baggage Buy Back” offsets the airlines’ checked-baggage fees by giving guests up to $30 in food and beverage credit. (Good until November 27.)

• Kimpton Hotels pays up to $25 toward your checked baggage fee until December 31. (Kimpton also has “Stranded in Style” amenities for guests whose flights are canceled – bath salts, complimentary wine or a movie, lounge socks, and a cocktail or appetizer at the hotel’s restaurant.)

3. The Race for Space: VirginAmerica.com

When you join Virgin America’s “Elevate” Loyalty Program, you get points that you can apply to free flights (as well as other benefits.) And when you acquire 10,000 points, you’re also entered in a “Race for Space” drawing to win a seat on one of Virgin Galactic’s upcoming space flights.

[Ed. Note: Stay up-to-date with the latest travel tools, tricks, and tips by signing up for The Right Way to Travel FREE e-letter from AWAI's Travel Division. Sign up here.]

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To get the best flight deals for Thanksgiving, you’ll want to keep your return date flexible. Consider coming home after the weekend. The Sunday after Thanksgiving promises to be a skyrocket price day, so wait if you can.

However, when it comes to the Christmas holiday, you’ll save more if you keep your departure date flexible and steer clear of flying on the weekend.

[Ed. Note: Stay up-to-date with the latest travel tools, tricks, and tips by signing up for The Right Way to Travel FREE e-letter from AWAI's Travel Division. Sign up here.]

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How? With Google’s latest innovation, Google SMS. You don’t even have to pay for a call to use it. (It does require a text message, so check your cellphone plan to find out if you’ll be charged a separate fee for that.)

I use this service all the time to find restaurant addresses when I’ve forgotten to bring them with me or I’m in a place that’s not familiar.

Google SMS also does translations, weather forecasts, sports scores, flight information, word definitions, currency conversions, and all kinds of other useful things.

Just send a text message with the right word combination to 466453 (GOOGLE) and a response will be texted back to you before you can put your phone back in your pocket.

Be careful, though, because you have to get the Google SMS commands right to get the answer you’re looking for. You can find out what they are, practice them (without actually sending text messages), and watch a demo at Google.com/mobile/default/sms.

[Ed. Note: High gas prices and checked-bag fees may be troublesome for some, but not for people who have a "Get Paid to Travel" plan. To find out how to defray some of your travel costs, sign up to receive The Right Way to Travel free e-letter.

When you reach a certain income level, small price increases just don't matter. Learn how you can make between $100,000 and $1.2 million in 2009 right here.] .]

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If you already own a laptop bag, it probably won’t make the cut. But more than 60 manufacturers are coming up with new TSA-approved designs, many of which are available already.

Here’s what to look for when shopping for a new laptop bag:

• There are three approved styles: (1) The “butterfly,” which zips in half and lies flat, with your laptop on one side and the rest of your stuff on the other. (2) The “trifold,” which has a laptop section that folds out. (3) The “sleeve,” a simple laptop case without any bells and whistles.

• Make sure there are no pockets, snaps, zippers, or buckles on the outside of the laptop compartment of the bag. (And keep in mind that the only thing you can put in that compartment is your laptop.)

• Don’t get a bag with thick dividers or emblems/seals on the outside. They give the TSA screener a foggy image.

For more details – and to see some diagrams of acceptable bag designs – check out TSA’s site at TSA.gov.

[Ed. Note: Truth is, high gas prices and checked-bag fees may be troublesome for some, but not for people who have a "Get Paid to Travel" plan. To find out more about how to defray some of your travel costs, sign up to receive The Right Way to Travel free e-letter.

When you reach a certain income level, small price increases just don't matter. Learn how you can make between $100,000 and $1.2 million in 2009 right here.]

Sure, it’s easy to complain about the extra $15-$20 many airlines are tacking on for “premium” seats and checked bags. But don’t let that turn you off. Because, really, when you put things in perspective, flying is still a bargain. And the experiences you’re rewarded with when you hop on a plane and visit an exciting city are priceless.

It’s even easier to be up in arms about the price of gas. But when I compare what it cost me to drive from D.C. to South Carolina last year to what it will cost me this year, I’m looking at a $17 bump. And I’d be a fool to let that keep me home. I spend more than that on a bottle of wine.

Meanwhile, if you look around, you’ll find that hotels, travel websites, and rental car agencies are making it even easier for you to ignore those increases by putting a nice marketing spin on them in a bid to keep your business.

For example, Expedia.com now offers a free $25-$75 gas card when you book your hotel stay through them. And most Loews and Kimpton hotels have introduced a “baggage buy-back rebate program,” which reimburses guests for their checked-baggage fees.

Those are just two examples. You’ll find more if you Google “free gas card hotel” and “checked-bag rebate.”

[Ed. Note: Truth is, high gas prices and checked-bag fees may be troublesome for some, but not for people who have a "Get Paid to Travel" plan. To find out more about how to defray some of your travel costs, sign up to receive The Right Way to Travel free e-letter.

When you reach a certain income level, small price increases just don't matter. Learn how you can make between $100,000 and $1.2 million in 2009 right here.]

1. Bee sting ointment. If you can’t get ice for your bee sting, dab a little toothpaste on it. It’s rumored to be the very best home remedy. (Also works to relieve the itch of a mosquito bite.)

2. An overnight zit cream. I find that if I dab just a spot of toothpaste on a rebellious pimple before I go to bed, it’s near gone by morning.

3. Jewelry cleaner. Simply put a small amount of toothpaste on a soft cloth and rub it on your dry jewelry. Use a soft cotton swab for the smaller, hard-to-reach spots. Then rinse it off.

4. Shoe cleaner. Toothpaste and a cloth or old toothbrush are great for cleaning the white rubber parts of tennis shoes.

5. Bathroom mirror defogger. When I’m in the shower and my husband wants to shave, he squeezes a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on the mirror and wipes it clean. Voila! The mirror stays clear.

6. CD and DVD scratch repair. Apply a very small amount of toothpaste (not the baking soda kind) to the disc and rub it off with a soft cloth. Scratches gone!

[Ed. Note: Lori Allen is the director of AWAI's Travel Division. You'll find tips like these, along with information on travel writing and photography, in her free e-letter "The Right Way to Travel." To sign up, click here.]

The end result of booking this way?

When we got to the gate, my husband and I were seated across the plane from each other… on day one of our honeymoon, mind you.

Turns out, if you pay for two separate tickets with two different payment methods, your tickets will be issued separate locator codes. And once those codes are separate, there’s nothing you can do to get them on the same record.

To ensure that you and your companion are seated together (and/or upgraded together), first and foremost try to book the tickets at the same time and pay for them together.

Now if, as in my situation, that’s not possible – perhaps because your company is paying for one ticket and you’re paying for the other – you can still call the airline and tell them to add a TCP2 code to your record.

TCP2 means To Complete a Party of 2. And while the airline computer system won’t recognize this code, your gate agent will. (It’s your fallback tactic when you can’t smile shyly and tell them you’re on your honeymoon.)

The TCP2 code might also help with upgrades, so long as both of your tickets are in the same full-fare class.

Full-fare tickets are often upgraded to first class when a flight is oversold in coach. A TCP2 code will let the gate agent know that you are traveling with someone if there is room for two upgrades.

So whenever you’re buying separate tickets, remember the TCP2 code and call your airline to see if they can add one to your record.

It’s not a miracle fix. But it can help.

[Lori Allen is the Director of AWAI's Travel Division and the author of Travel Around the World: How to Design, Book, and Enjoy the Ultimate Adventure... and Even Make It Pay for Itself. You can get a free copy of this book when you test-drive The Ultimate Travel Writer's Program.]