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 1.6 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."