Many new airline fees today are accompanied by big announcements, press releases and all the Internet chatter that goes along with both. But others are quietly implemented - you’d have to be specifically checking airline fee info buried in airlines’ web sites over and over each week to notice. And I happen to be doing a lot of that lately to keep the Kayak Airline Fees page the up-to-date, hip and happening resource that it is.

Today, while doing my regular survey of the fees we watch closely, I noticed that Delta - in the news earlier this week after doubling its second checked bag fee to $50 - has also increased its pet travel fees by $50-$75  during the last seven days. Obviously, the fees for pet travel affect far fewer travelers than the checked bag news, but I’m pointing out my little discovery all the same. Finding a fee change like this one - which hasn’t gotten any play in the media thus far - just goes to show you how important it is to check fees before you travel. They’re changing all the time and could easily be different than the last time you flew.

In Delta’s case, the one-way charge for a pet in the cabin rose from $100 to $150, while the one-way fee for pets traveling as checked baggage jumped from $200 to $275. Details available at Delta Pet Travel Options.

Hawaiian Airlines announced yesterday that it will begin charging for checked bags and more, starting this fall. This comes after the airline’s earlier decision to charge $25 for a second checked bag.

Here’s the skinny:

- $15 for first checked bag for tickets purchased Aug. 1 or after for travel on or after Oct. 1. Only applies to flights between U.S. mainland and the islands. Interisland flights will still allow passengers to carry one piece of checked luggage free of charge.

- $10-$20 for telephone bookings starting Sept. 1.

- $25 for tickets purchased at the airport starting Sept. 1.

There are also changes to the airline’s frequent flyer program minimum mileage requirements.

For up to date information on airline fees charged for economy travel by the U.S. and international carriers Kayakers use most, check out the Kayak Airline Fees page.

Will the airline fee funship ever come in for a landing? Not anytime soon, it seems. Here’s another fee to factor in before you fly: Delta announced this week that it will begin charging $50 for a second checked bag. That’s double the current $25 charge.

Purchase a Delta ticket after today, and you’ll pay $50 for your second checked piece of luggage. You can find the details in Delta Excess Baggage.

For regularly updated airline fee information aimed at economy travelers flying U.S. and international carriers, there’s no better place to look than Kayak’s Airline Fee page.

You and 300 of your nearest and dearest 21-and-over comrades could be off to Aruba, Orlando or Vegas this fall courtesy of Orbitz and its Fill the Plane game, which launched today. The key to winning? Excising your flakiest friends and family members from the competition. That’s because winning requires filling up a 301-person virtual plane through online invitations. But you can only issue two per day. Once those lucky invitees “board” your plane, they can, in turn, invite two more people each day. And the cycle continues until the first plane is full and at least 80 percent of the passengers agree on the final destination (if you’ve ever tried to plan a group vacation, you know this is likely to be the most difficult part). The winners receive free airfare, accommodations and $250 to spend on a three-night vacation to their chosen group destination.

If you really want to geek out with this wacky web 2.0 travel contest, you can use your social networking savvy and powers of persuasion to poach passengers from rival planes, bestow “first class” status on fellow passengers to keep ‘em loyal and campaign for a specific destination via online message boards.

The contest ends on Aug. 20 or when the first plane is filled…

You won’t be able to fly in one of Continental Airlines‘ new 180-degree lie-flat seats until the fall of 2009, but at least you can look at them now. What’s cool about these seats, other than their potential for flatness? Well, they also offer 6.5 feet of space to stretch out in, storage for personal items under the seat’s ottoman, iPod connectivity and either 11- or 15-inch video screens, depending on the plane.

The airline plans to install the new seats, which took over two years to design, in BusinessFirst cabins on its Boeing 787, 777 and 757 planes. Expect to find these on the airline’s trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific routes first.

British Airways announced today that it plans to merge with Spanish airline Iberia, pending shareholders’ approval.

While rivals speculate that the merger of the two carriers will lead to less competition and higher fares, British Airways CEO Billie Walsh said he did not expect prices to rise significantly as a result. Instead, he countered consolidation was “long overdue,” and that the merger was a good deal for both airlines, who’ve flirted with the idea of a merger for years and already have codeshare agreements on many flights.

Where can super-rich travelers drop more than the cost of a college eduction on a weekend getaway? At a hotel housing one of the world’s most expensive hotel suites, of course. From Elite Traveler’s 2008 list of the 101 Top Hotel Suites of the Year, the five most expensive hotel suites and their nightly rates:

1. $52,000: The Royal Penthouse Suite at the Hotel President Wilson, Geneva, Switzerland

2. $50,000: The Royal Villa at the Grand Resort Lagonissi, Attica, Greece

3. $30,000: The Ty Warner Penthouse at the Four Seasons Hotel, New York, NY (pictured)

4. $21,500: The Imperial Suite at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome, Paris, France

5. $21,000: The Ritz Carlton Suite at the Ritz Carlton, Moscow, Russia

Not ready to drop a mint for a night? The list also includes some considerably more affordable options, like the $650-a-night Pool Villa at the Alila Cha-Am in Amphur Cha-Am, Thailand.

Would you pay $50 to $100 more for an economy class ticket to have one of the best seats in the main cabin (i.e. exit row or bulkhead), dedicated overhead space and all the same food, beverage and entertainment amenities as first class passengers? Virgin America is betting some travelers will be happy to pay the price for first class treatment in their economy class seats.

Planned for roll out this fall, the Virgin America Main Cabin Select program will offer travelers the option to pay more (exact pricing will depend on flight length, but should be in the $50-$100 range, according to our source) for seats in the main cabin with 38 inches of seat pitch, complimentary access to the full in-flight menu (yes, that means cocktails, too), free on-demand movies and premium television and dedicated overhead bin space for carry-on luggage. But wait, there’s more! Main Cabin Select passengers will also receive priority check-in, security screening and boarding privileges at the airport.

I’m always a fan of airlines figuring out ways to make more money by offering passengers new options, instead of charging them more for things they’ve traditionally gotten for free. So clearly, I’m excited to see this new program debut. Travelers will be able to purchase Main Cabin Select seats beginning Sept. 15, 2008, for travel starting in mid-October.

More news in the land of airline fees. After August 15, 2008, Frontier passengers will no longer have the option to fly standby when their travel plans change at the last minute. Instead, they will be required to rebook on scheduled flights with available seats and pay the difference in the price of the fares, as well as a $150 change fee for flight changes made before their originally scheduled day of travel.

You can view a chart that outlines the changes at the very bottom of Frontier’s EarlyReturns FAQ page (scroll down).

For a comprehensive look at airlines fees from the U.S. and international airlines Kayakers fly most, check out the regularly updated Airline Fees page on Kayak.com.

As you probably know, there’s been a lot of chitter chatter in the media this week about Kayak.com and American Airlines. And while some (like Jaunted) got the story right, others published pieces that fell short of the truth. To that end, here are Kayak.com’s official statements regarding American Airlines’ decision to alter its relationship with Kayak.com:

July 23, 2008 -Official statement in response to AA press release pulling out of Kayak.com: At Kayak.com, we are dedicated to providing a comprehensive and objective display to our users. We’re unwilling to amend this pro-consumer philosophy that is the core of our business by suppressing results based on a partner’s request. We welcome American Airlines to rejoin Kayak.com’s objective results at any time.

And:

CEO Steve’s response on TechCrunch, who got the story very wrong: “American asked us to suppress search results from competing websites as a condition to displaying their fares. This is simply not something that Kayak will do. Imagine Sony telling Best Buy that they couldn’t sell Panasonic?”

More from Steve:

July 24, 2008 - CEO Steve’s statement: AA recently informed us that we could no longer display their fares directly unless we suppressed search results from other websites (e.g. Orbitz, Cheaptickets).

We simply cannot allow travel providers to compromise the comprehensiveness or objectivity of Kayak’s results. Other folks have asked us to in the past, and we’ve always said no. Choice on what and where to buy is central to Kayak’s value proposition.

So, Kayak terminated our relationship with AA on a direct basis. We still expect to display AA fares from Orbitz and potentially other travel agencies. And I do remain optimistic that AA reconsiders its approach to us.

Last but not least, note that Kayak.com is still currently showing fares for American Airlines flights available through American Airlines’ web site and our online travel agent partners.