Originally published October 29, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified October 29, 2007 at 1:31 PM
Be prepared to pay more for next year's trips
When you take a trip next year, be ready to pay more. The number of trips that Americans will take in 2008 is expected to increase by 1...
McClatchy Newspapers
When you take a trip next year, be ready to pay more. The number of trips that Americans will take in 2008 is expected to increase by 1.6 percent, but the money spent to take a trip will grow by more than three times that amount, according to a forecast by the Travel Industry Association.
That's because all across the board, travel is more expensive than it's ever been.
Airplanes and hotels are more full, allowing travel companies to raise ticket prices and room rates.
On the road, the price of gas is going through the roof. And rental cars are pricier because of rising taxes lumped onto the car and the higher costs to buy new cars from the manufacturers, experts say.
So far, travelers have become fairly resilient to the impending economic pressures and growing travel costs, said Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of research for the Travel Industry Association.
"I think the consumer will face higher prices," she said in a conference call with reporters. "Right now there doesn't seem to be too much concern that that will that much negatively affect things."
Leisure travelers are taking shorter trips, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're driving rather than flying, Cook said. However, business travelers who have been going out of town individually to meet with a client or make a sales call are now staying home more often and tapping the latest in video conference technology, Cook said.
The cost to take a business trip is expected to grow 6 percent, or $63, to a total of $1,110, according to a 2008 business-travel forecast released last week by American Express.
Airfares are expected to increase 6 percent to 10 percent in 2008 compared with the previous year, according to the National Business Travel Association.
Regardless of rising costs and increased congestion at airports, business and leisure travelers across the country will continue to take to the skies.
The number of travelers surveyed who say they're traveling less because of the so-called "hassle factor" associated with flying is in the single digits, Yesawich said.
"It's a little bit like the weather," he said. "It's something that people love to complain about, but they live with."
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Thanksgiving travel plans expected to grow slightly
Ask Travel: A free day in Prague
Ban Long Lao is a peek at traditional Hmong village life

Raw Video | Real Salt Lake receives the MLS Cup trophy
Real Salt Lake is handed the 2009 MLS Cup trophy at Qwest Field, November 22, 2009.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Tugboat sinks on Seattle's waterfront
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
- Italian prosecutors request life sentence for UW student
- Man shot in chest on E. Union Street in Capitol Hill
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Mariners Blog | A Mariners-Tigers swap makes a whole lot of sense for both teams
- Senate vote clears hurdle
239 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
125 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
121 - Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
119 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
119 - Cutting through breast-cancer confusion
90 - Prosecutor requests life in prison for Amanda Knox
89 - Game thread
70 - New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
56 - Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
50
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Nonprofits get creative using Twitter and Facebook to make donation easier
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- Great places to cross-country ski for free (or almost) in the Methow
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Recipes: Sesame Pork Roast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce and more
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- 175 foster kids in Washington get 'forever families'





