With oil prices approaching $100 a barrel, air travelers — and for that matter all travelers — will be hearing a giant sucking sound when they pay for their tickets or fill up their gas tanks.
And you know what? That’s actually good.
Here are five reasons why high fuel prices are a positive thing for travelers.
1. Green isn’t an option anymore. I’m tired of the travel industry talking about being “green.” Airlines want to charge you extra to eliminate your carbon footprint. Hotels are giving “green” lip service by washing your towels less frequently (yuck!). One entire theme park, Universal Studios (great park, by the way) is going green, too. Please! You don’t issue a press release because you’re green. You just do it quietly because it’s the right thing for the environment — and for your guests. So the next time you see someone announcing, with great fanfare, that they’re “green,” imagine if a company said they were now going to be responsible. Or even, ethical. Sounds kind of absurd, doesn’t it?
2. Time to finally get serious about mass transit. Mass transit is regarded as the only long-term solution to our cities’ traffic problems. But no one wants to give up their cars, and so traffic has been getting progressively worse. With oil near $100 a barrel, owning a car is sure to become prohibitively expensive for some Americans, and that might be enough to encourage the development of viable mass transit systems in our cities. Taking cars off the streets is a good idea. It would also serve the interests of travelers, who would have an affordable way to get around the cities they visit.
3. Your kids will thank you. If you believe that fossil fuels are leading to global warming, and that global warming is going to change the planet forever, then you’ll agree with this next point. Pricier oil will lead us to find more environmentally-friendly alternative energy sources, and that means future generations will be able to live — and vacation — on a planet that look a lot like ours. Not some post-apocalyptic wasteland.
4. How ’bout an all-inclusive to Syria? No kidding. Higher fuel prices will hasten our efforts to find other energy sources, reducing our dependence on foreign oil. In the long run, that could potentially stabilize the Middle East, since Western interests would be far less like to, oh, I don’t know, invade a sovereign country and overthrow its government. Imagine the possibilities. Vacation in Iran, anyone? How about a cruise to scenic Iraq?
5. Say it with me: de-commoditization of airline tickets. What if — and this is a big “what if” — airlines have to raise their ticket prices? Big time. Ticket prices have not kept pace with inflation, and there’s some agreement among analysts that airline tickets have become “commoditized.” That means consumers will always buy the lowest-priced ticket. But if everyone had to charge more because of higher fuel prices, then it’s possible that passengers would become less price sensitive. They’d expect to pay a lot, and instead look to other areas like services and amenities, when they made a purchasing decision. That could improve air travel in a significant way.
I, for one, look forward to $100-a-barrel oil prices. It might lead to some real and positive changes in the way we travel.
Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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