Top 10 2007 Travel Stories

As I sit down to write this review of the year in travel 2007, I have just completed booking a two-week multi-city itinerary, complete with hotels and rental cars at each stop. I mention this because, as I look back at what it was like to travel in 2007, it's not always an appealing picture.

Lowlights of the year include rising prices from the gas pump to the airport to the exchange counter; confrontations with red tape and sloppy security at every border and security checkpoint; and a complete breakdown in customer care at the airport. If 2008 is anything like 2007, you could easily decide to trade in your frequent flier miles for a scooter and avoid the hassle by staying a little closer to home this year.

But as we leave 2007 in the exhaust trail and look toward 2008, I stand by my standard sign-off -- Go Anyway. I will. Without further ado, our Top 10 Travel Stories for 2007.

1. Passport Changes -- You Can Check Out Any Time You Like

Way back in mid-January, the U.S. State Department instituted new passport policies for U.S. citizens returning by air from trips to Canada, Mexico, Panama, Bermuda or parts of the Caribbean. Where previously a driver's license did the trick, the new policy required citizens to have a passport to gain reentry to the United States when traveling by air. That is, you could leave without a passport, but you couldn't get get back.

This may be an odd choice for the number one spot, but while it may not have been the most thrilling story of the year, it sure started off 2007 in a portentous way. The resulting passport backlog grew so massive that some travelers actually missed scheduled trips because the State Department could not send passports on time, even for applications placed months in advance. It got so bad the State Department had to relax their own rules, allowing travelers to go to select locations with a document stating that their passport application was in progress -- essentially, a hall pass from the government. With gauzy and arcane rules, shifty deadlines, confusing clauses, and the feel of an ambush, the passport quagmire set the tone for the whole of 2007 in travel.

What's next for 2008? Unfortunately, the State Department is still vague about when the land/sea requirements will kick in, IndependentTraveler.com editor Sarah Schlichter told me recently. "The State Department's Web site says 'summer 2008,' but I've heard it could be as late as June 2009. In any case, the backlog has pretty much cleared -- finally! -- so now is a good time to get a passport. Act now and you'll be set no matter when the new requirements kick in." But you won't want to wait until the new regulations kick in for round two, when it could be back to the future, with canceled trips and hall pass requests.

2. Poor Airline Customer Service -- AKA As Hostage Situation

"Poor Airline Customer Service" -- I'd like to nominate this for Understatement of the Year. If tarmac strandings that were so bad they were characterized as hostage situations are merely "poor customer service"; if a St. Patrick's Day weekend implosion that caused US Airways to set adrift a mid-sized city's worth of people while JetBlue and Royal Air Maroc stranded people inside planes for more than a workday is just "a bad day"; if scheduling meltdowns that caused JetBlue essentially to shut down is a bit of "inconvenience"; if staffing crises that forced Northwest to make (and try to hide) systematic but unannounced flight cancellations month after month is just a "marginal problem" -- then sure, poor airline customer service was a big story in 2007.

And these are just the high points. The Department of Transportation's on-time and luggage handling stats on the year read like a third-world rickshaw company report. And even if you are not subjected to near-imprisonment at the airport, day-to-day customer service is erratic at best. I will say that, in the past month or so, I have run into some superb airline agents, even at the unlikely US Airways and the bare-bones Spirit Airlines. Folks like these give some hope for travel in the New Year.

Of course, a few nice and hard-working airline agents don't necessarily indicate a sea change on an institutional level -- but the passenger bill of rights might....

3. We're Not Gonna Take It!

Some folks have had enough of being at the complete and utter mercy of the airlines, and are working toward a legally binding Airline Passenger Bill of Rights written into the laws of our nation.

Back in 1999, when U.S. travelers went through a similar spate of bad and worse treatment, the airlines wrote a voluntary "Customer Service Initiative" under pressure from Congress. At the time it was clear the promises had no legs, teeth, arms or conscience -- which is why we are where we are today.

This time around, however, the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights is not messing around -- they want to make it law. While many travel experts think more rules are just more rules, I agree with the Coalition folks that a minimum standard of service for the people who pay the fares should be mandatory. The skies are "owned" by the people after all, and the people should expect some minimum standard of service when they pay to fly their own airways.

And herein bursts forth considerable optimism about our prospects as travelers once we succeed in being recognized as the paying customers, not to mention the feeling human beings, that we are, deserving of only the very best our travel providers have to offer. If it takes Congress and a few laws to make it happen, so be it.

4. Rising Airfares -- Pay More, Get Less!

As predicted back in January, airfares have edged ever skyward this year due to a combination of schedule constriction and market forces. The steady stream of fare hikes has been matched by new charges and fees, including fuel charges. They have affected airfares to the point where some of the major booking engines will quote you a base fare with taxes and fees separated out.

For example, when I priced out my multi-stop itinerary last week, I was quoted "$821.00 + $36.20 taxes and fees = $857.20 per person." Coupled with the several items noted above, "pay more, get less" captures the spirit in the air for 2007.