Beat the Airport Blues

Air travel was supposed to get better this summer, but the number of canceled flights and airport delays have only increased.

For the first 15 days of June, the number of flights canceled was up 91 percent over the same period last year, according to flightstats.com. And The Wall Street Journal reported that the number of flights delayed more than 45 minutes has jumped 61 percent.

Congestion at airports and in the air is forcing airlines to pad extra time into schedules so they will be "on-time." That makes trips less productive for travelers who end up sitting around waiting.

Southwest Airlines and US Airways had the best ratings for on-time arrivals, according to numbers from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Continental and JetBlue had the worst rate of on-time arrivals.

To see how major airlines performed in 2006, check out this report from the Wall Street Journal.

Tips for Avoiding Delays, Cancellations and Missed Connections

Create a cushion. Allow at least 45 minutes to an hour for connections. Don't schedule flights with close connections or arrivals shortly before big events, meetings or important times, such as a cruise ship departure.

Watch the weather and fly early in the day. Thunderstorms often gather steam in afternoon heat. If storms are brewing, consider leaving a day early once airlines relax penalties on changing flights due to bad weather.

Fly off-peak. Lines are shorter and you can get personal attention. Early mornings Monday and Tuesday and Friday afternoons are the worst because of business travelers.

Fly from smaller, regional airports. There are more regional airports, which can be less crowded than major airports.

Find a seat up front. Otherwise you wait an extra 10 minutes for everyone to get off.

Do due diligence. Web sites such as flightstats.com and flightaware.com show how often a specific flight lands on time.

Get a seat assignment when you book. If they can't give you one then, it probably means the flight is oversold and you'll have to be there early to work it out.

Print your boarding pass at home to avoid waiting in line.

Consider flying Southwest. This spring, the airline began equipping all its planes with an advanced navigation system that allows more direct routings to runways. Alaska Air added the same technology, which helped it avoid 980 flight diversions last year.

Avoid Luggage Woes

Last year, more than 4 million of the 700 million bags checked for domestic U.S. air travel were mishandled, and the rate for lost baggage has been increasing for the past four years. Airlines spent an estimated $400 million on reimbursing passengers for lost luggage and delivering late bags to hotels and homes.

Airlines with most lost bags last year were US Airways and Delta.

Airlines with least lost bags were JetBlue and Northwest.

Tips

Make sure to have name and address inside the bag as well as on the outside.

Splurge on curbside baggage check in -- or tip porters once inside to handle bags.

Check bags with liquids. Carry-ons allow for only 3-ounce bottles.

Vacation in Las Vegas. Its airport already uses high-tech radio-frequency ID baggage tags to track luggage in airports. The technology, which uses normal-looking baggage tags embedded with a chip, is supposed to reduce lost luggage by estimated 20 percent.

Tips on General Comfort While Traveling

Bring an extension cord to bank off the scarce plugs in terminals.

If wearing sandals, bring a pair of "footie" socks to slip on while walking through security.

Check seatguru.com to make sure you get the best seat with pitch, width, legroom and video monitor placement.

If it's a long flight, buy two drinks instead of one. The airline may run out before they get back to you.