Good news for any woman who, like me, appreciates a good bathroom in the sky: Japan’s All Nippon Airways is rolling out ladies-only restrooms this month. Next time you have to powder your nose on ANA, ladies, the seat will be down and your spirits (the airline hopes) will be up.

Dear Editors,

Does Mexico charge a departure tax when returning to the U.S.?  If so, what is the tax and does it have to be paid in pesos?

B in Phoenix

Hello Phoenix Traveler,

This week's question comes from a traveler in Phoenix:

Kevin Smith's ejection from a Southwest Airlines flight earlier this month has led to some heavy public debate over "Customer of Size" policies. The film director, who was asked to leave the aircraft because of his weight, stirred up a PR nightmare when he railed against the airline on his Twitter page--rejecting multiple apologies and an offer of a $100 flight voucher. Southwest claims that their actions are consistent with a 29-year policy dealing with heavy passengers.

Dear Editors,

I need some information about taking my dog with me on a flight to PA. Can you give me a site I can look at what I need to take the dog with me?

Thank you,

Lucinda

Hi Lucinda,

This is one of those situations that is very common among traveling pet owners. As such, you'd likely think there was a simple-to-understand, uniform policy across airlines that dealt with pet travel. Unfortunately, this is not the case and so there isn't one perfect resource I can direct you to for information. However, I will try my best to help you navigate various airline policies. For general information about pet travel, I recommend PetTravel.com.

Update: This continues to be a very popular post so I thought I'd update the information since airline policies for bereavement fares tend to change. But first I'd like to thank all of the travelers who wrote about their experiences in the comments section of this post. I know that losing a loved one is hard and booking a compassion fare is very stressful. Your advice is wonderful and you're helping other people navigate this challenging period.

General Info: Bereavement or compassion fares aren't always the best option for those traveling at the last minute. Let's weigh the pros and cons.

It's the long-distance traveler's dream: you have a row of four seats to yourself and you can stretch out across them for the entire 14-hour journey. "Why do people bother paying the extra for business class?" you think. "This is wonderful!"

Ah, but not so fast: when was the last time you saw one empty seat on the plane, let alone a whole row? Recent capacity cuts have meant frequently crowded planes, and if you want to stretch out and lie flat in coach these days, you're pretty much out of luck.

Enter Air New Zealand, and its pioneering Skycouch. A row of three seats in economy that folds back into an almost-flat bed, it sounds almost too good to be true, right?

When the news broke last week that a flight was diverted due to a suspicious passenger engaged in a prayer ritual, I couldn’t help but remember a trans-continental flight I was on, many years earlier, to Jerusalem. At the time I was a very nervous flyer, the kind who has to stay awake all flight long to make sure “nothing happens.”

Last week, I was asked to appear on FoxBusiness.com's web show to discuss baggage fees. We also discussed tips to avoid the fees, airfare for spring, and the value of hotels.

As the manager of Travelocity's Travel for Good program, one of the big questions I get asked is: Does the carbon offset money really do anything? Do they really plant trees with it?

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!!!

Every single penny donated to our carbon offset program goes to The Conservation Fund's Go Zero program. We partnered with them because they focus on reforestation and they work right here in the U.S. of A. Plus, the Fund has been awarded an A+ rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy and a four-star rating from Charity Navigator. In straight talk, that means your dollars go to work and are not frittered away on high overhead or silly expenses.