Keep Your Credit Card Handy, Airlines Going Cashless

"Don't leave home without it!" "It's everywhere you want to be!"

These popular tag lines from credit card commercials apply to air travelers more than ever these days. We're quickly becoming a cashless society and airlines are lining up to get onboard. Some U.S. airlines already ban cash in the cabins for drinks and other purchases; others are set to follow suit. When you travel to your timeshare, you'll soon need a debit or credit card to make those in-flight purchases that make the trip more pleasant. Through the end of the month, American Airlines, which accepts both cash and cards, is test marketing card-only flights on service from San Francisco. JetBlue Airways recently announced implementation of a card-only policy starting November 1. AirTran was the first to go cashless in 2004. Since then air carriers Aloha, Frontier, Midwest and Hawaiian have followed suit. Many more airlines have added the card-purchase option to their in-flight services, allowing passengers to pay with either a debit/credit card or cash. Alaska Airlines is the latest to add the dual service.

"I think it's the wave of the future," said Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Caroline Boren. "We're increasingly living in a cashless society."

Delta Air Lines offers dual purchase services and Northwest expects to add the plastic option in early 2008. Both say the future may see them going cashless. There haven't been many holdbacks to the trend. Even Southwest Airlines, one of the larger cash-only airlines, says they're looking into it, though they have no plans to change their cash-only policy. Other airline travel news:

• Round-trip fares go up. The nation's five largest airline carriers have again raised round-trip fares $10 in response to escalating fuel costs. American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, led the way with Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, US Airways Group, and most recently United Airlines joining in. This is the seventh ticket price increase made by America's major carriers this year. All have been attributed to the rising price of jet fuel which has climbed 36% since the end of 2006. Just one more reason to love vacationing in my timeshare. With the money I save on lodging, I can afford to pay a little more on transportation.
• Flight delay solutions discussed. Major U.S. airlines will meet with federal Department of Transportation and FAA officials next week to discuss the traffic congestion problems that caused annoying delays at airports across the country this summer. Participants hope to come up with a voluntary solution to decrease congestion at the nation's major airports, particularly the three airports that feed New York City: JFK, LaGuardia and Newark (NJ). A DOT spokesman said if the airlines cannot come up with a solution, the government could consider imposing scheduling restrictions to avoid a repeat of this summer's chaos.