Morning mish mash

Some travel good news and some maybe-not-so good news for you. First the undeniably good news. Wireless access from hotels is on the rapid rise - and that includes the beloved free wifi access. From American Hotel & Lodging Association's 2008 Lodging Survey:

The survey, conducted by Smith Travel Research and based on the responses of more than 10,000 U.S. hotels, found that 91 percent of responding properties now offer wireless Internet access, up from 35 percent in 2004. The survey reported that 16 percent of hotels charge for in-room Internet service, down from 19 percent in 2006 and 22 percent in 2004.

Yes, it's indeed good news for travelers who like to be connected. But I wonder if I must be staying exclusively in that 16% who charge...I rarely get the free waves... I also find it quite amusing (read: frustrating) that the cheapo hotel chains are the ones with free waves and the premo hotel chains are the ones who charge. Why is that exactly? Oh, yeah, because the can...

Now the bad news - well, bad depending on what side you are on - it may actually be some good news for travelers who like bargain deals. Yes, as you might expect with rapidly rising airfares and over $4.00/gallon to fill the SUV for that road trip, the US travel forecast is not looking so great:

A batch of new indicators suggests that the industry now faces the prospect of little or no growth this year. Leisure travel may yet squeak through 2008 with a hairline increase before declining slightly next year, but a key consumer survey recently indicated that gasoline prices had already prompted some consumers to cancel vacations.

In a jointly issued forecast, Global Insight and D.K. Shifflet & Associates predicted that domestic person-trips would rise by a scant 0.3% this year. The forecast pegged travel spending growth at 3.6% this year, but that trailed an expected increase in travel prices of 3.9%.

I'm filing this under stating the obvious. To pile even more news on you this morning, it appears that theme parks are also starting to feel the pinch too. If you are interested in reading more on the topic, check out this good article (with even more interesting links) about the trials of Six Flags and other theme park providers.

So what does this mean for planning fall travel?

Well, my advice is if you don't want to worry about it, book your trip now. Spend the money and be done with it. But if you are a bit of a risk taker, consider hanging back. I do suspect you'll see discounting come September.

Also - and more important to your wallet - as hotel demand softens, you'll see discounting there and probably some sweet deals on Priceline.com and Hotwire.com. Both providers sell hotel rooms by location/quality, but not by name. If you don't care about the name of the hotel you stay in, you can score some very good deals on either site. If you can save $75/day on your hotel for a 4 night vacation, that more than dwarfs the $50 increase on your airfare.

My point is, really look at the price for your travel needs combined - not just the airfare - it's important now more than ever...

Hotwire.com [Official Site]
Priceline.com [Official Site]