AA said they will now charge for the first checked bag as well as for the second and more for all but their 'elite' flyers and those who buy full fare first class or busn. tickets.

AA and other airlines are charging for many other services such as making a reservation with their res. departments by phone. (In my case, I use miles to upgrade on my preferred carrier and there is no other way to do so other than by phone.)

Today comes the news that more airlines are adding days to the min. stay required to purchase a low fare ticket OR adding (again) the Saturday night stay for low fare tickets.

What's curious to me about the latter (Sat. night stay) is that it was originally instituted to help hotels (as well as airlines) get more weekend business.

Hmmm... does this mean hotels' weekend business is off?

What will all this do to the meetings we hold? Will any of those stipulatins be waived for meetings fares w/ airlines? How will we manage our room blocs if we have to second guess what people are doing for travel?