Summer saw uptick in trips abroad, 'resort credits'

Mary Dewane pondered a trip to Salzburg, Austria, the last five summers, but the value of the dollar compared with the euro was too costly - until this summer.

With a more favorable currency exchange rate, Dewane flew from Phoenix to Philadelphia this week on the way to Munich, Germany, and then by train to Austria, to visit her son who is working at the Salzburg music festival.

"The other years, it was too expensive," said Dewane, standing at the US Airways Group Inc. ticket counter at Philadelphia International Airport. "Luckily this year, it started to go down, so I figured I might as well take advantage."

Travel experts have seen an uptick in travel to Europe, even though airfares are higher than a year ago.

With summer vacations winding down and Labor Day just around the corner, travel experts have seen a mix of trends. High unemployment and stock-market gyrations did keep many people from spending freely. And they economized by staying closer to home.

At the other extreme, luxury travel is up, said Pauline Frommer, guidebook author, syndicated columnist, and host of a radio show on travel.

"We've seen a boom in luxury travel - river cruises in Europe and Asia are off the charts," Frommer said. "It's the exact opposite of what I would expect during a recession."

Meanwhile, many hotels are offering "resort credit" - the equivalent of cash to spend at the resort on food, the spa, or beverages at the bar, said Kari Thomas, president of Will Travel in Langhorne.

"That was quite a big trend, especially in Florida, because of the gulf oil spill. Hotels were trying to entice people to come down. The pricing was good. Even Miami was offering very good prices."

"I saw Europe come back a bit," Thomas said. "The only problem with Europe was getting there - airfares were high. Once you were there, Europe was a bargain. And a lot of people are going in September to Europe because prices start to go down again. It's the shoulder season."

Jim Reilly, a sales executive from Princeton, flew from Philadelphia to Zurich, Switzerland, on business Monday. Earlier this month, he and his wife and two daughters took a family vacation to Paris and Nice, France. The improved value of the dollar was "not 100 percent the reason, but it was a nice benefit."

"Compared to several summers ago when we went, prices were much more reasonable, although restaurants are still expensive," Reilly said.

Sherri and Rickie Charlestein, from Hatfield, were headed to Tel Aviv, Israel. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We saved up," said Sherri, a registered nurse at St. Mary's Medical Center in Langhorne. She said her coworkers were talking about traveling to Europe. "The deals are good, airfares, five-star hotels. More are going there."

Travelers are taking advantage of off-season deals in destinations like Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Nassau, Bahamas; and Bermuda, said George Hobica, founder of airfarewatchdog.com.

"There are some bargains to the Caribbean, especially as hurricane season approaches," he said. "JetBlue has added some new flights to Punta Cana. Ireland is a relative bargain to Europe. Dublin is always a bit cheaper than going anywhere else in Europe."

Airfares are higher this summer, up 12 percent to 14 percent, Hobica said. With higher ticket prices, a lot of people are saying "to heck with it, I'll stay home."

"That's the main story, that airlines are getting more for their seats. A lot of the travel to Europe is more business travel, people going to see clients and that sort of thing."

Planes are fuller, and hotel rates are bouncing back, but unemployment is not improving, Hobica said. "People who are employed are traveling again, and business travelers are coming back."

The auto club AAA said that despite mixed economic data this year, travel bookings for hotels, cars, and vacation packages had seen double-digit growth this summer.

While 2009 was the year of travel bargains, there were still bargains to be found this summer, but people had to look harder and book further in advance to take advantage of them, AAA said.

Many people took shorter and more frequent trips by automobile due to stable gas prices and hotel discounts and promotions.

Cruises were popular, especially along the East Coast. To avoid airfare and airline fees, travelers often drove to their nearest home port, such as Baltimore, Bayonne, N.J., or New York to board cruise ships, AAA said.