A holiday treat from Bing Travel

Crowded airports, endless security lines, flight delays and long layovers: Traveling over the busy Thanksgiving weekend certainly isn’t any fun. A few months ago, we started considering ways we could help ease the burden of holiday travel and asked ourselves, “What’s something fun we could do to surprise fliers on the day before Thanksgiving, on what is typically the most hectic travel day of the year?”

After discussing many options, we decided to surprise travelers at select airports by picking up a small cost that would have a big impact. So we’re making a small gesture of “reimbursing” travelers for the cost of an average baggage fee. Think of it as a holiday treat from Bing.

Here’s the scoop: 1,000 random lucky travelers departing tomorrow from Boston’s Logan Airport (BOS) and Seattle-Tacoma Airport (SEA), the two airports where we launched the original Price Predictor, will be selected to receive a $15 card redeemable for cash anywhere MasterCard is accepted. We hope that $15 in your pocket can in some way make your day a little better, whether it’s a book or magazine for your flight, a meal on the plane or coffee and hot chocolate for the family.

Bing Travel fareologists will also be on site at BOS and SEA to offer tips and advice for travelers departing from Boston and Seattle. But regardless of which airport you’re departing from this holiday, here are a few ways to make smarter travel decisions, and your travels a bit more pleasant:

• Know your home airport. Check your airport’s Web site to learn the tips and tricks you might not have noticed on your last visit. Ask other travelers for tips, too: Maybe the security line is always shorter at one location than another.
• Have a contingency plan. In case you’re stuck at the airport due to a delay or cancellation, know where to go and whom to call. Some airlines have special phone numbers for people whose travel has been disrupted; others have kiosks inside security for rebooking. Program your phone with those numbers ahead of time.
• Check the weather. Stay “in the know” about any delays by checking the weather in your departure city, at your destination and at any connecting points; if trouble is brewing, ask your airline to reroute you or put you on an earlier or later flight. Sign up with your airline’s alert system to have messages sent to your phone.
• Don’t travel with gifts. Ship gifts instead of carrying them. Depending on your specific airline’s luggage policies, if you plan far enough ahead, it can be cheaper to ship than to check gifts in your luggage.
• Finally, stay calm and collected. Everyone’s as anxious as you are to get to their destination and see their loved ones. If you’re delayed, spend the time connecting with family or reading a good book.

For updates on the luggage fees giveaway tomorrow, be sure to check us out on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/fareologist. Happy and safe travels!