Holiday airfares up 30% from 2007

Expect to spend more to fly home for the holidays this year, say the experts at Live Search Farecast.

Fares for Thanksgiving 2008 are up 31% from 2007, while Christmas and New Year's fares for the coming season are up 30%, according to the website.

"The combination of high fuel prices, airline capacity and route cuts means holiday travelers may easily spend upward of $100 more per ticket than last year," said Joel Grus, a spokesman for Farecast at farecast.live.com.

Farecast found that the average cost nationally for the most popular Thanksgiving itinerary -- a Wednesday departure with a Sunday return -- was $490, up $66 from last year. Travelers returning on Monday or Tuesday can save more than $90 a ticket, the website said.

The website found Christmas and New Year's fares averaging $420.

BANKRUPTCY

Protection sought for gift card users

Consumer groups are asking the Federal Trade Commission to protect shoppers from losing money on gift cards when retailers file for bankruptcy protection.

The agency should require merchants to segregate funds from gift card sales in a trust account and to honor the cards if the stores are open unless a bankruptcy court orders otherwise, said the petition from Consumers Union, Consumers Federation of America, National Consumer Law Center and the advocacy group U.S. PIRG.

The groups called on the FTC to declare the sale of gift cards without segregating funds and holding the money in trust to be "an unfair and deceptive practice."

Bankruptcy courts treat gift cards as a loan to the company, not as cash. Shoppers may lose the value of their gift cards if the merchant doesn't petition the court to allow it to continue to accept its gift cards or if the court denies it. In these cases, the only remaining option for shoppers is filing a claim as an unsecured creditor to a bankruptcy proceeding.

RECALLS

Salad dressing label omits eggs

The T. Marzetti Co. is recalling some 12-ounce bottles of Girard's Honey Dijon Peppercorn salad dressing because the bottles may have incorrect labels that don't list eggs among the ingredients.

Marzetti says people who have egg allergies run the risk of a serious reaction if they consume the product. Marzetti says the recalled dressing was distributed throughout the Western U.S., primarily California, Washington, Oregon and Arizona. The bottles have the "Best By" date code 06-11-09M.

From Times Wire Services