You’ve watched the Wall Street meltdown — and subsequent government bailout — unfold during the last week. But how is the nation’s ailing economy affecting your next trip?
Will fewer people fly? That seems to be the conclusion of a recent mainstream media report, which concludes that “amid higher airfares and a crisis in the financial markets, airlines in the U.S. and abroad are seeing or bracing for softening passenger demand.”
How about hotel occupancy? A travel trade publication reports that in at least one place — Manhattan — hotel rates are facing serious downward pressure. It reported buyers are “turning up the heat” in negotiations with New York hoteliers, following the most disastrous week that Wall Street has seen in decades.
We know that business travelers are taking a break, but what about the rest of us? Are you canceling any trips? Or do you see this downturn as an opportunity to score a bargain?
The comments are open.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
um… i’m kind of psyched. i’ve been finding great airfare deals lately. i have, however, been cutting back on those weekend jaunts by car that we used to do pretty regularly. it’s definitely putting a damper on my quest to eat in all the counties in north carolina (see my blog for more details about the mission).
Wish I could find some of those great airfares! Transatlantic fares from IAD still seem super high. How can it be that under 1K seems almost a bargain?!!
Regardless – heading for Italy tomorrow!
I’ve cut out all international travel because of high airfares and unfavorable exchange rates and am taking only domestic auto road trips. The news about the economy isn’t helping me at all as a 75 year old retiree fighting the fear that I’ll run out of money well before I die.
My spouse and I have 4 trips scheduled, at the moment, through next March. The main thing that gives us pause is how crowded the planes are and how crappy airlines treat you, now The longest trip (41 days) is a cruise from Rio de Janeiro right back to Seattle (where we live) and the main attraction is that we only have to deal with the plane one way. Hawaii (another of the trips) is still attractive because it’s only 6 hours and no stops The one we dread is to London (we’ll grit our teeth and bear it), but a long cruise and back from Fr. Lauderdale (not so bad).
I’m taking my travel south of the border to Central and South America. Done deals are Brazil next month and Panama in the spring. I was in Ecuador this past winter. The scenery is breathtaking, the wine and food are delicious and the accommodations are reasonable. Europe can sit on the sidelines.
Since my retirement some two years ago, my wife and I have been to the Antarctic and the Arctic, Europe, South America, and numerous US locations. The airlines have had a consistantly poor service record on most of our trips with a recent exception. We just returned from a round trip to Tampa, FL with Southwest and found a reasonable travel experience, not too crowded, on time, short (fast) TSA lines, all-in-all a good trip. We also have 4 more trips (2 are cruises, Panama Canal and one international) scheduled over the next 4 months and are not looking forward to the air portion of any part of our travels. No real bargains though even when I take lots of time to shop. So we will just bite the bullet and press on to do all the travel we have in our plans.
You betcha. I have been having a tough time finding a job so our travel spending is down. But, I am ready to jump on local deals this year and am looking forward to stretching out travel dollar a lot farther next year. We hope to take one “big trip” – 2+ weeks overseas – and one regional trip – 4 nights in western N. America or Hawaii. Europe is out until the Euro drops below $1.30. With the bargains being to show up, I am hoping for a 2002 – style travel year.
But, I agree with what Willa said about domestic airlines. We are trying to avoid most of them and I expect the service and experience will get worse.
As a single travler, it is easy to fly, but to cruise and book hotels it is absoultly unfair!
I noticed that my airfare is down for my next trans-Pacific flight (-15%). The strategy must be working, since I did not find empty seats on my last flight trans-Pacific flight one week ago.
Concerning exchange rates, I disagree with the poster above. The Euro and Pound are grossly over valued versus the Dollar, however they are likewise grossly over valued versus most currencies in Asia. East Asian currencies have not changed dramatically versus the US Dollar.