Spill your secrets about the Caribbean

The FTC is taking a look at the companies and organizations you can pay to "offset" carbon emissions from flying, according to Travel Weekly. Can't say we're surprised. Check out "On Flier's Remorse," a story we ran a few issues ago--it points out that for the same flight, four groups each calculated the amount of emissions to be widely different, and the amount it cost to buy an offset ranged from $26 to $97!

This Just In has been tracking the spread of bike-sharing programs. Here's the latest new program: In early 2008, Turin, Italy, will place about 1,300 bicycles at about 390 stations citywide. EARLIERBike sharing in Spain, Paris, and elsewhere in Europe. RELATED Turin's official tourism website, TurismoTorino.org, has a database of hotels, B&Bs;, and hostels and it allows you to search by price (from as low as —$59), neighborhood, and style of accommodation.

Many readers commented on Erik Torkells' blog post "Adding fees after you've already paid?!" Erik wrote that while it was bad enough that many cruise lines are adding fuel surcharges in the coming months, it was "borderline outrageous" for Carnival, Costa, Holland America, Cunard, Princess, and Seabourn to also add a surcharge to passengers who had paid in full months ago. Most readers agreed. Here are snippets from some of the most insightful comments: How can they justify a daily surcharge if you are on a cruise to Bermuda for example and you get there and the ship stays in port for 4 days? Surely any surcharge should be imposed on a mileage basis to be fair.—Steve Anderson I think this is ridiculous. The cruise lines already require you to tip your steward and actually tell you what to tip. The excursion trips are costly if you book them with the cruise line and the drinks are over-priced. Is this legal because the majority of the ships are foreign registry?—Sydne We are one of those that got hit with the surcharge. We booked a 10 day cruise on Princess 11 months ago for Feb 2008. I got a call from my travel agent last week that we are getting charged an extra $100 for the fuel surcharge. Not right. Will think twice before booking with them again if they continue with this practice.—Fla. Deb. I know that this is a Budget Travel post and I like BT b/c I appreciate a good value. But acting indignant and like you're getting screwed every time someone requests a surcharge is just ridiculous. Just pay the fee. It's par for the course as a golfer would say.—But Seriously Thanks again to all who commented. (Find the full list of comments here.)