In an unprecedented move, Expedia has dropped their phone fee, which is great news for those of us with complicated flight booking needs, or those of us who just prefer to actually talk to someone instead of clicking through a website. As of yesterday, the $20 fee to speak with a real, live agent has been dropped completely. This gives Expedia an edge in both customer service and in cost. Not only can you talk to someone live, it's now going to be cheaper to go through Expedia because most airlines charge ridiculous booking fees over the phone.

The price of connectivity looks poised to plummet to zero as planes and trains experiment with offering free onboard wifi. So far, airlines have charged for hopping on the web, usually connected to the length of the flight. Costs range from a few bucks to over $10 a pop, and adoption has been on the slow side. Perhaps people are reluctant to let go of their last vestige of disconnection while in flight, or they just don't want to pay another damn fee; whatever the reason, airlines are now trying to woo passengers by offering wifi as a free perk. We already told you that Virgin America and Google have a special holiday deal running from mid-November through January 15, but more airlines are following suit.

Virgin America is bringing the holidays a little early with a nice present for travelers: free wifi. While normally costing $6-$13 (depending on the length of the flight), the inflight wifi will be completely gratis from November 10 through January 15, 2010. Google is Virgin's wifi provider already, and this little gift is courtesy of a double team of Virgin and Google, who apparently really want you to try out surfing the web while you're in the air this holiday season. Perhaps the home page will load to the Skymall. Wifi usage so far on Virgin has been reported at around 12 to 15 percent on short flights and about 20 to 25 percent on longer hauls across the country. You can expect speeds close to on-the-ground mobile broadband. Check it all out here at the Google's Free Holiday WiFi site, and you can see a Google Map of Virgin's wifi-enabled travel destinations after the jump.

Virgin America is launching a reality show starring its flight attendants. Or rather, a select group or attractive women flight attendants. Said flight attendants will be filmed as they jaunt across the skies doing their flight attendant thing for the cameras. The show, Fly Girls, will be airing on the CW, so I'm expecting at least some manufactured drama, which should be easy to get seeing as how the five featured flight attendants will all be living together in a "crash pad" in Los Angeles. In Virgin's words: "From their shared home-base “crash pad” in Los Angeles, California, the young women will deal with work lives that include split-second decision-making, demanding and sometimes fascinating passengers, long hours in the air and layovers in interesting locales. Their personal lives are filled with romance, family, friendships and more than a few roommate conflicts."

Ready, set, go! Virgin America is having a killer sale for the next 24 hours. They're calling it the "Let's Get Down to Business Sale," and it's a pretty good deal. The only catch is, you've got to purchase by tomorrow, and the fares are only good through September 30th. But for those of you who are into last minute deals, this shouldn't be an issue. You can hop between San Francisco and Las Vegas or Los Angeles for only $29 each way, New York to Las Vegas or Washington DC to Los Angeles for $89 each way.

Labor Day has come and gone, taking with it all the white clothes (and shoes) and most of the fanfare of lazy summer days. However, summer isn't officially, officially over until September 21 -- even though Starbucks is already trotting out that damn Pumpkin Spice Latte. In case you didn't get a chance to get away for the long weekend, or in case you did and it was such a blast you need a vacation from your vacation, you're in luck. My favorite trifecta of airlines all launched sales this week, designed to inspire travel lust in those hoping for a last weekend fling, or those ready to plan fall trips already.

With all the cuts and slashes in service in the airline industry, it's no surprise getting a bite to eat in-flight is as rare as getting an entire row to yourself. Meals have been cut for flights under three hours, and on the magical three-to-six-hour flights, there's no particular standard. Over on Virgin America, it'll cost you upwards of $9 for a (decent) fruit and cheese plate, while on JetBlue, they bombard you with free chips, cookies, and Dunkin' Donuts coffee (I always want hot chocolate to appear on the menu, but it hasn't happened yet). Beyond those two airlines (and Continental) though, it's not likely you'll run into anything worth sticking your fork into on a domestic flight.

Watch out Jet Blue, Southwest, and Virgin America -- upstart Jet America is after your customers. Jet America is following in the footsteps of airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair, offering ridiculously low prices on flights, then nickel and diming the hell out of you. Each flight will offer nine $9 one-way seats, and as of now, the airline flies between Lansing, New York (Newark), Detroit, Toledo, Minneapolis, South Bend, and Orlando. Fees start ticking as soon as you choose flights. There's already a $5 "convenience fee" to book online, which is better than the $20 fee to book on the phone, so either way you slice it, your $9 ticket will jump to $14, if not $29.

Who cares about wifi at every seat when you can have absinthe on your next flight? Amidst all the hubbub about the wifi experience that Virgin America is offering -- which amounts to service for a fee at every seat -- VA is also launching some new menu items, including one special cocktail featuring our favorite green fairy. They've partnered with French liquor company Le Tourment Vert (translated into English as “The Green Torment”) to offer signature mind-bending cocktails in air.

This is a game changer. Virgin America has successfully launched wifi in every seat in its fleet of airplanes. They've long had outlets in every seat, so now it's just a matter of plug in and get on. The service isn't free (yet), but it's less than most hotel rooms charge, and since they're the first airline to have such complete coverage, I'll give it to them, but I'm hoping for the price to go down to zero dollars some point soon. For laptop use, it'll cost you $9.95 for flights less than three hours long, $12.95 for flights over three hours. Handheld devices, i.e. BlackBerry or iPhones, will cost you $7.95 regardless of flight time.