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Travel Tips Flight Hotel

A quarter-century ago, Ralph Nader's Aviation Consumer Action Project fought for passenger rights and won major victories, such as the requirement that airlines compensate passengers who are bumped from an oversold flight.

Today, the organization exists in name only, and as carriers focus on controlling costs to stay afloat, consumer protections are getting short shrift: Congress recently let lapse a rule that protected passengers from losing the value of their tickets if they book on an airline that goes out of business.

Apart from an increase in the compensation offered to bumped passengers, there's been little progress on other fronts. Flight delays have been at record levels for the past two years, with one of every four planes ar

Christopher ElliottTravel columnist• Profile• E-mailWe’re traveling down an uncertain road next year. Buckle up.

“This kind of reminds me of the old sea maps from the 1300s that showed a coastline with the caption which read, ‘Here be Monsters,’” says Patric Douglas, the chief executive of Shark Diver, a tour operator in San Diego, Calif. “Trying to forecast this thing using any models from the past 20 years will be useless.”

That hasn’t stopped anyone from trying. Take American Express, which delayed publication of its closely-watched business travel forecast by a few weeks this fall to account for Wall Street’s implosion. Amex now predicts the average domestic business trip will cost 2.8 percent more in 2009. B