One of the most visible changes that went into effect Jan. 24 relates to fare advertising. Airlines are now required to disclose fees and taxes when quoting fares, including baggage fees. This will make it easier for “apples to apples” comparison when shopping for fares.

Additional consumer protections went into effect last week. Airlines cannot raise your ticket price after you have bought the ticket. Travelers may hold a reservation for up to 24 hours without paying, if the reservation is made a week or more before the departure date. Passengers also may cancel or change a reservation within 24 hours of booking without paying a penalty — again, if the flight was booked at least a week in advance. If a flight is delayed, passengers must receive status updates every 30 minutes, including the reasons for the delay, if known to the airline.

We applaud the additional transparency for consumers, who have often been seduced by so-called “teaser” fares that turned out to be much higher than advertised, and fully support initiatives that enhance the air travel experience.

What are your thoughts about the new regulations? We’d love to hear your opinion.

The APEC Business Travel Card will allow qualified, pre-screened business travelers access to fast-track immigration lanes at airports, and it eliminates the need to apply for visas or entry permits. The card itself serves as the visa. The cards are accepted in 21 nations belonging to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and are valid for three years. Learn more about how the card works here.

The new card for U.S travelers is not yet available, but you can find progress updates here.

The good news is that as 2011 comes to a close, business travel booking numbers have rebounded virtually to 2008 levels, signaling economic recovery after several challenging years. There is a simple and strong correlation between economic growth and business travel.

Global business travel spending in 2012 is expected to exceed $1 trillion, an increase of 9.2 percent over 2011. A major growth factor in global business travel is to and among emerging economic powerhouses Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Airlines, for the most part, are again profitable due to improvements in efficiency and the addition of ancillary fees. Airline ticket prices are expected to increase between 3 percent and 5 percent worldwide, due to increased demand and static — and, in the case of some European carriers, slightly reduced — capacity.

While the Arab Spring and several natural disasters have complicated travel in affected countries, overall the impact on business travel has been minor. At this time, no significant health or safety risks are expected in the short term.

When it comes to meetings and events, pent-up demand from the recent economic downturn has resulted in an uptick in group event bookings in 2011 that will continue to grow in 2012. Consequently, group rooming rates are expected to rise as well.

Rental car rates, which remained relatively flat in 2011, are expected to increase between 4 percent and 6 percent in 2012. We also can expect to see growth in car-sharing programs, an alternative to car rental, in major metropolitan areas.

Finally, the popularity of smartphones has led travel service providers to increase the availability of up-to-the-minute information in mobile formats. According to a 2011 survey conducted by Sabre Travel Network, more than two-thirds of business travelers want to receive destination-specific information directly on their handheld devices.

As always, you can trust the team at Safe Harbors to stay current with all the latest trends and make sure you’re getting the best deals for your business travel dollar.

The full list of winners can be found here. Here are some highlights:

The best overall airline was Singapore Airlines, which was also honored for its service. The best North American airline for international travel was Air Canada. The best North American airline for domestic travel was American Airlines, according to the survey. And the best low-cost carrier in North America was JetBlue. Delta received kudos for its first-class and business-class service.

The best business hotel chain in the world was Hilton Hotels & Resorts. Hertz was named best car rental company. And, in terms of destinations for conventions and conferences, Las Vegas came in at number one. Why are we not surprised?

What do you think of these rankings? Which airlines and hotel chains do you prefer when you travel for business? Let us know in the Comments section.

Import data from your credit cards, manage expenses, photograph receipts and submit your reports. Goodbye tiny scraps of paper. Manage your travel, hotel and dining itineraries and even check on your flight status. No more searching for that itinerary you printed a week ago.

You can even:

• Enforce company policies on business travel 
• Enable selection of hotels and rental cars from preferred suppliers
• Expedite expense processing by reducing submittal and approval time by 28%*
• Improve accuracy of eligible expenses
• Increase compliance by 10%*
• Reduce processing costs by 40%*

Safe Harbors has been a distributor of Concur / Cliqbook products for over 8 years. Contact your Safe Harbors Travel Group Account Manager clientservices@safeharbors.com for more information on the Concur Travel & Expense Management system now available on your mobile smartphone.

What do you think?

Now on to the next big topic of “passenger rights”. It sounds nice but is it really practical or even necessary? Can you imagine running your business like an airline where the government needs to step in to make sure you are disclosing all fees or if you lost your customer’s property legislation requires you to reimburse? Not a chance! There is a strong chance we would no longer be in business if we failed to provide the most elementary features of customer services.

So, we are now down to four major airlines in the United States and it is a strong possibility we may be down to three in the very near future. This is not good news for anyone. Reduced competition will result in higher fares, poor customer service and awkward attempts of legislation. Let’s welcome new airlines to the industry and reject additional mergers in the future.

Airlines will have to prominently disclose all fees — include those for checked bags, meals and upgraded seats — on their Web sites. And ticket agents will have to include all government taxes and fees when quoting fares.

“Airline passengers have a right to be treated fairly,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in announcing the new rules.

Passengers who are bumped from oversold flights will also receive better compensation. If the airline is able to get them to their destination within two hours of their originally scheduled arrival time for domestic flights, or four hours for international flights, they could receive double the price of their tickets, up to $650 (the previous limit was $400.) For delays exceeding two hours for domestic flights and four hours for international flights, they could receive four times the value of their tickets, up to $1,300 (previously twice the value of their ticket up to $800).