American Airlines – Free Booze

Yes, that’s right: starting October 1, American Airlines will be offering free alcoholic drinks in its domestic Admirals Clubs (but you’ll still have to pay for the premium brands – though why be picky?). These drinks are already free in the international clubs.

Not sure you want to join the club? You can get a one-day pass good for any of AA’s airport clubs for $50, and it’s valid for any day within a year of purchase.

Frontier and Midwest Airlines – Lower Bag Fee

Both Frontier and Midwest airlines have lowered the fee of a second checked-bag, from $30 to $20 – so if you like packing a lot of stuff, this is good news for you.

If you want to avoid bag fees altogether, try switching to a carryon bag – I did and you can too (and you can save enough to purchase a one day pass at the Admirals Club and grab a free drink).

Southwest Airlines – Takeover Rumors

At this point, these are strictly rumors – the principals sure aren’t talking – but Wall St. is, saying things like, it would make a lot of sense for Southwest to takeover leisure carrier Sun Country. One tantalizing thought: Sun Country flies to some international destinations, including Cancun, the Virgin Islands and other Caribbean destinations. Could open up a whole new world for Southwest – and its customers. On the other hand, Southwest has made a lot of money over the years doing what they do. Not sure they need any advice.

JetBlue Airways – WiFi Coming

It took awhile, but JetBlue has signed a deal to wire all its planes (160 of them) with a satellite broadband internet and TV service – ViaSat Inc. is the company they’ll be working with. But don’t open that laptop just yet – the carrier won’t begin installing the systems until the end of 2012. However, they do have free TV in the meantime – not to mention, a free first checked-bag for you non-carryoners (no, I don’t think you’ll find that word in the dictionary).