Spirit Airlines, which I admit I admire for being the first airline to charge for carry-on luggage, has just said they'll start charging a $5 fee for passengers who need an airline agent to print their boarding pass for them at the airport. Is this, too, a reasonable "extra" the airline can charge for, letting passengers choose?

Spirit says passengers can skip the fee by printing their own boarding passes "at home," but of course that's not an option for your return trip. (Some, ...

We've mentioned a couple of solar-charging options for electronic handheld devices in passing, but couldn't resist the opportunity to talk about this latest approach: the solar bikini.

Solar Coterie is now taking orders for custom bikinis fitted with 1x4-inch photovoltaic film strips, connected via conductive thread and ending in a 5-volt regulator with a USB port. Plug in your iPod, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, or pretty much any device that charges with a USB port, and it should ...

Southwest Airlines announced they'd be celebrating their 40th anniversary by offering free downloads of a 40-song playlist from the iTunes Store through July 31st. Sadly, while they handed out promo codes with a "use by" date, they left out the detail that there was a limit to the total number of code redemptions allowed. 

"We had an allotted number of codes to download, and the offer was so popular, they were all redeemed in less than a week," a Southwest spokesperson told the Associated Press. The company isn't saying the total number of downloads they'd arranged with Apple, just that it was "in the six figures."

If you got a promo code from Southwest and you thought you had two months to redeem it, turns out you were wrong! Did you get stuck with a worthless promo code and nothing to listen to?

As e-readers gain popularity, along with general-purpose tablets that can be used to read books and magazines, more and more travelers are boarding flights without the formerly omnipresent book or magazine. Of course, they're being told to turn off all electronic devices for take-off and landing, which for some nervous travelers is when they most need a little distraction.

The airline magazine in the seatback pocket in front of you may provide some entertainment for a few minutes, but ...

Just as everyone is, we're overwhelmed at the images and videos coming out of Japan, where countless residents and travelers are affected by last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami. We're happy to pass along, though, that AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and Verizon are all offering free calling and text messages to Japan for their U.S. customers who want to check on loved ones.

AT&T will not bill postpaid (monthly contract) wireless customers for voice calls or text ...