AmEx study finds substantial increases in 2007

The 2007 Business Travel Monitor, produced annually by American Express Business Travel, had more bad news for travel budgets, especially for overseas trips. The study looks not at published fares and rates, but at the prices that travelers actually paid for business trips in 2007. Its main conclusion: “International air fare paid increased to its highest level since the Monitor was first published in 1999; and, since 2004, international air fare paid has grown 21 percent,” AmEx said. From 2006 to 2007, AmEx said, the average roundtrip fare paid by international travelers rose 7.5 percent, to $1,836. By contract, the average domestic fare was relatively unchanged, at $230 in 2007 vs. $231 in 2006. Prices paid for hotel rooms in 2007 rose even more substantially year-over-year, AmEx said. On the typical domestic business trip, travelers paid an average of $157 a night, up 11.3 percent from $141 in 2006. For trips abroad, the nightly average room rate jumped from $230 in 2006 to $266 in 2007, a 15.6 percent increase. The average daily cost of domestic car rentals rose 4.4 percent to $72, AmEx said.