By STEVE HUETTEL, St. Petersburg Times

Somewhere between a curb at Boston's Logan Airport and luggage claim at Tampa International, somebody snuck a bottle of pure maple syrup and some change from Millard Keller's black bag recently.

Keller went home, then to bed. He didn't open the bag until morning. So the 57-year-old retiree lost the chance to get reimbursed by the airline, JetBlue Airways.

We all love easy answers to life's pesky problems.
An unusually sweltering week in May? Must be global warming. A news story we don't like? The left-wing media conspiracy (or right-leaning Fox News).

My last meal consisted of a bagel with cream cheese and fruit yogurt gulped down in the hotel room before dawn. So, fast-stepping through Terminal C of Washington's Reagan National Airport 12 hours later, I was looking both for the gate to my US Airways flight and a place to chow down.

On a recent US Airways flight from Washington, D.C., to Tampa, the problem was finding a place to stash Roll-Aboard luggage and bulky suit bags somewhere close to the travelers' seats. A stranger nodded knowingly. "It's because of those baggage fees," he groused.

A 'yes' man, in the finest possible way.
Ronald MacDougall has been on call around the clock since New Year's Eve 2003. As resort host, he caters to the needs and whims of VIPs at the Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa in St. Pete Beach. Discretion is his stock in trade. Don't ask him to name names.
Q. Who qualifies as a VIP?

Tight corporate-travel budgets have thinned the ranks of road warriors. But for those still toiling in airports and rented rooms, the rewards are getting richer.

Just a year ago, struggling airlines were jacking up fares and introducing new fees like clockwork. Now, carriers are struggling again. But this time consumers are catching a break.

This month marks the second anniversary of the Valentine's Day massacre for JetBlue Airways, which prompted demands for Uncle Sam to take airlines to task for mistreating travelers.
Remember? JetBlue blundered into an operational meltdown during a blizzard at its John F. Kennedy International hub. Customers' lives were turned upside down.

Air travelers might remember 2008 as the Year of the Fee.Most major carriers decided checking bags was a privilege and started charging $15 for one, up to $50 for the second. US Airways said it wanted $2 for coffee or bottled water. Delta ticked off surfer dudes everywhere by jacking up the fee for carrying their boards to $300 each way.

Anyone who spends workweeks on the road knows it's no job for weenies. Attention, road warriors: It's time to strap on additional armor.