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HURRICANE WATCH
The Latest on Katrina: What You Need to Know
Hurricane Katrina's lingering effects continue to reverberate throughout the travel industry.
· Expect to pay more for limo and taxi services as gas prices surge. "Companies . . . are trying to get either a fare increase or a per-trip fuel surcharge," said Harold Morgan of the Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association.
Fuel surcharges automatically kick in when gas prices hit specific levels in a few cities, such as Seattle, where a 50-cent surcharge is set to double if gas prices stay above $2.90 for 14 days. Other public officials reacted quickly: Memphis, for example, added a $2 per trip surcharge ; Montgomery County, Md., added $1.50 to each fare. Increases in some cities will lag as taxi commissions consider requests. In D.C. for example, a $1 fuel surcharge expired Aug. 31, but watch for something new when the commission meets in mid-September.
· Airlines teetering on the edge of bankruptcy -- including Delta, Northwest and Independence -- could be pushed over the edge by jet fuel prices that jumped as much as 47 cents per gallon after Katrina hit. That difference alone, if sustained, would add over $9 billion to the industry's annual fuel bill.
· United backed away last week from a price hike of $30 round trip on many fares after other airlines failed to match. At press time, most of the legacy carriers had increased some one-way fares by $5.
"That's like a Band-Aid on a gushing artery," said Terry Trippler, an airline expert who writes for Cheapseats.com. "I'm expecting to see a substantial price hike -- $15 to $25 one way -- this month," he said, adding that airlines might more discreetly raise revenue by decreasing the number of seats sold at rock-bottom fares.
· Three Carnival cruise ships scheduled to take tens of thousands of passengers around the Caribbean will instead house evacuees . Sensation and Ecstasy, which together hold 4,101, will dock in Galveston, Tex. The Holiday, which holds 1,452, will dock in Mobile, Ala.
