In a move that should help level the playing field for U.S. airlines and travel service providers, the U.S. Department of Transportation has implemented several new regulations of which frequent travelers should be aware.

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.

American business travelers to Asia soon will be eligible for fast-track entry at airports in Asia-Pacific nations, thanks to a bill recently signed into law by President Obama.

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.

As we look ahead to travel plans for 2012 and beyond, here’s a peek at a forecast developed by our business partner, Travel Leaders. They have aggregated data from across the industry to make projections about trends in pricing, fees and other factors that influence travel budgets for the coming year.

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.

Readers of Business Traveler magazine have once again weighed in with their picks for the best in business travel. The annual competition, now in its 23rd year, rates domestic and international airlines, hotels and travel tools. Readers named their choices for the companies they believe offer the best product or service in several categories.

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.

Being based on the east coast and more specifically the state of Maryland, we recently experienced natural phenomena that are not common in our area. An earthquake in Baltimore and then followed by a hurricane? Well, the good news, our systems and staff are setup all around the country and we didn’t miss a step in helping our travelers endure Mother Nature’s roar. Our staff processed over 16,549 inquiries during this time enabling travelers to continue with their business efforts, return to their families or continue on with their missions. Thank you for trusting Safe Harbors during these difficult travel periods!

Less paper in your pocket. More time on your hands. How about doing your expenses right from your smartphone? Well, it’s here as Concur makes it easy to do all your expense reporting straight from your smartphone.

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.

As the airlines continue to find new and creative methods of charging for services, we were curious how our client base of customers felt about ancillary fees. Out of 512 combined responses, 59% said they would be willing to pay more if meals/snacks and baggage fees were included in the airfare while 41% liked the fees for optional products and services. Thank you for participating!

What do you think?

The 2012 Olympics will be held in London, England July 27-August 12, 2012 and will be followed by the Paralympic Games August 29-September 9, 2012. This will affect passengers traveling to and through London for their 2012 plans.  It is important to remember that travelers using London as a connection point to their final destination will be impacted by less seat availability resulting in higher fares. Once your travel commences, please make sure your trip is well planned to counter the amount of travelers exiting in London or connecting beyond. Our advice is to book as early as possible giving you plenty of advance purchase options.

Within our latest newsletter you will find information about Southwest Airlines acquiring AirTran Airways and “passenger rights”. So, where’s the news or even the good news? With Southwest acquiring AirTran, passengers will see an expanded route structure but the fares, frequent flier programs and simplicity of upgrading will certainly be a thing of the past. The only common thread both carriers had in common was the tag line of “low cost carriers”.

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.

The Department of Transportation announced new passenger protection rules for airlines. From now on, if an airline loses your luggage, it also loses your baggage fee, which it will be required to reimburse.

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).