My colleagues and clients spend way too much of their life in the air to and from India. So when someone sent me the top 2011 predictions of travel guru Steve Glenn (ExecutiveTravel.com), I thought I should add my India twist to them
- Airlines will start charging for carry-on bags and charge extra for using a credit card; Yikes, I am sure this won’t affect international travel, at least not this year
- American Airlines and US Airways will merge; I flew American to India twice, the seats and the absence of A/C laptop connectors was a no-no; perhaps I can use my miles to get travel on US Air next year.
- Fuel surcharges will explode;
- Domestic airfares will skyrocket this summer; Thank goodness for gotomeeting.com
- A passport will be required to graduate from college. This will help America regain its competitive edge. Europeans are so much more cosmopolitan, we need to catch up.
- Four out of 10 hotel rooms go empty in 2011. But not in India, where you need to overpay or plan weeks in advance.
- Luxury travel will continue to get stronger
- Inflight Internet will flourish. Thank god. I hate watching movies.
- Companies will forces employees to carry-on and will not reimburse for baggage fees
- Travel agents will be back in style. I never left them, at least not for international travel.
- Airport parking prices will increase
- Car rental prices will see double-digit increases. And so I try to stay close to Metro Stations and take public transport where feasible
