Is travel becoming a luxury or is cheap travel still possible?

Flying is my preferred way to travel. However, the energy crises may be putting my love of cheap travel and last minute travel deals in jeopardy. Reports last week on the airline industry talked about layoffs, fewer planes in the sky, and reduced service on planes. Can we get peanuts anymore? Yesterday, thankfully, major airlines rolled back a $20 roundtrip fare increase, according to an article by the Associated Press. Many airlines are charging passengers if they check more than one piece of luggage. American Airlines is charging $15 for the first piece of luggage. The rollback of fare increases may be a signal that demand for airline travel is decreasing. This makes sense. If I am already paying $4 to fill my gas tank and I am being told that gas prices will continue to rise, I am going to think long and hard before I get on a plane. My vacation travel may be closer to home this summer. Luckily budget airlines like Airtran, JetBlue, and Southwest are still offering really good deals and they also have vacation package specials.
When booking hotel and car with your airline tickets, make sure you confirm your reservations. I would suggest doing this whenever you don’t deal directly with the hotel or rental car company. I have arrived at a hotel with confirmation number in hand but I didn’t confirm my reservation before I got there. Luckily they had rooms available and I was reimbursed when I was charged for my hotel twice. Another thing to watch is whether your itinerary is changed as you get closer to your travel date. As airlines decrease the number of flights you may not get the flight your originally chose, especially if you booked your flight three or more months in advance. The rise in fuel costs has the airlines scrambling so as you get closer to your travel date monitor your flight. Most airlines will email you if this happens.
A great web site is FareCompare.com. It allows you compare flights at all major airlines and budget airlines as well as gives you news about what’s happening in the airline industry. At the moment I don’t think airline travel is out of reach for the average person but if gas prices reach $6 as some are predicting, I think many will choose to stay on the ground and I may be one of them.