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Traveling With a Conscience after 9/11
The Travel Tightwad · September 14, 2002

We aren’t the same travelers we were a year ago.

How could we be? The September 11, terrorist attacks affected us like nothing else. The changes that have taken place, though subtle, are important. We’ve developed a deeper awareness of ourselves and our role in the world. We’ve refocused our priorities, abandoning short-term, save-a-buck attitudes to ones emphasizing long-term sustainability. Saving money still matters, but not as much as it used to.

In other words, we’ve become travelers with a conscience.

The government took a lead in raising our awareness when it allocated $15 billion in aid to the airlines. But many of us now realize that if price is the sole criteria by which we buy airline tickets, it won’t be enough to rescue the beleaguered carriers. US Airways has filed for Chapter 11 and United Airlines is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. As travelers of conscience, we know that our support of these and other struggling airlines is essential not only to their survival, but to that of the entire air travel system.

This philosophy extends to hotels, cruises, and rental cars. And yes, even travel agents. Retailers have been robbed of their airline commissions, yet many of them continue to offer their advice at reduced rates. But since March, when Delta Air Lines announced it would no longer pay base commissions for tickets issued by travel agents in the U.S., it’s been a slow, sad decline for many travel professionals, especially small so-called mom-and-pop agencies that relied on commissions. The surviving agencies are imposing service fees to cover their losses, which can add $30 or more to the expense of your ticket.

Strange as it may seem, travelers I talk with today are less interested in getting a deal at any cost. They want to support their travel agent and patronize their favorite airline or hotel chain, in the same way that people want to buy dolphin-free tuna or avoid packaging that’s not biodegradable. They’re increasingly aware of a difference between the “fast food” no-frills carriers and the full-service ones. And now they are making buying decisions based on that knowledge.

You probably like to think of yourself as a prudent traveler who watches the bottom line but wouldn’t book a vacation in which you spent most of your time hunting whales or clubbing baby seals. You don’t walk on protected sand dunes when you’re at the beach. You prefer paper to plastic. Now, thanks to the shocking events of September 11, that attitude is seeping through to travel.

Last year’s events tested our character as travelers, and I believe we’ve passed that test with flying colors (and that’s true for travelers worldwide, not just in North America). Hotel, car rental, and airline capacities dropped immediately after the attacks but then rebounded. We know that we’re part of the travel equation, and we’ve made our statement with our pocketbooks: We as travelers are here to stay.

Incidentally, 9/11 marks the anniversary of this column. It's been a pleasure sharing my insights into travel bargains for this last year, but time now for me to move on as well. This will be the final Travel Tightwad column. Travel safely.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.