Travel Budget

The other night I decided to put together a spreadsheet to track our travel budget, since I have been doing a lot of hotel, train, and airline reservations this week. Don't worry, we're right on track. Actually, we probably won't end up using all the money we have set aside. When filling out the "airline/train fare" column, I realized that I hadn't looked into how much it would cost to check our bags. Given the airlines' propensity for nickel and diming customers, and the fact that we're taking an international flight, I just assumed they would up the ante and we would have to cough up the equivalent of a domestic airline ticket for our two small bags.

I nearly went into shock when I found out the cost: Zero. What? As of this week, United Airlines does not charge you for checking up to two bags for international flights. That's the best news I've heard all day. It certainly has made me more upbeat during my somewhat arduous search for a place to stay in Regensburg. There must be some kind of crazy convention going on there on the Saturday night that we're stopping in, because every single room (hotels, guest houses, and hostels included) under €90 is booked. I'm now searching for apartments and flats that might have some space. It's my last ditch effort and then we'll have to go on to Plan B -- I have yet to figure that part out.