New: Buying a package for an unknown destination

It was a big week for economic news, which culminated with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledging our collective impatience with high gas prices, high unemployment and high foreclosure rates (admittedly somewhat therapeutic even if it's unclear whether and when any of it will get better). With the barrage of economic news — some good, some bad, depending on which barometer you're reading and which analyst you're listening to — does any of it affect the decisions you make about where you want to go this summer, how long you want to go for, or how you're going to get there? if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('f3b61558-f81a-429e-b063-b2fe1871c3d0');Get the Poll Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)Does the fact that new home sales are stagnating make you worried about your property's equity? Does stock market performance give you the confidence to getaway? What about how much you're paying at the pump? While we've all gotten somewhat accustomed to the economic roller coaster ride that has become the "new normal," higher fuel costs likely have some travelers staying closer to home, and surely certain travelers aren't happy that a weaker dollar will make that cappuccino in Rome take a bigger chunk out of their wallet. Perhaps others are simply throwing their hands up and going wherever they want because we may very well be in this for the long-haul. According to travel industry insiders, the economic indicator that's probably weighing on travelers most is the rising cost of fuel. "Ultimately, the price of oil plays into everything," said John Lovell, president of Vacation.com. "I think that's the one I look at the most. It does have a direct effect on the price of airline tickets, where ships are deployed, tour product." Richard Launder, president of travel conglomerate The Travel Corporation, which owns several travel companies including Insight Vacations, Trafalgar Tours and Contiki, said there are five major economic indicators that he keeps an eye on in terms of their impact on the travel industry and travelers: oil, the value of the U.S. dollar (or lack thereof, which hits travelers heading abroad), the stock market, the unemployment rate (or the "employment rate" as he prefers to call it), and inflation. But Launder too said that travelers will most immediately feel and respond to rising fuel costs more than anything else. "We all have to fill our cars with gas on a weekly basis, and certainly for those of us that fly, for pleasure or business, we all see the impact fuel surcharges have on airfares. That's tangible," said Launder. "It does have some impact on where people are prepared to travel." When planning your summer and fall trips, what are you most concerned about? Have you actually adjusted your travel plans accordingly? Join the discussion by voting in our poll or commenting below. More from Budget Travel: Are you more loyal to hotel rewards or frequent flier programs? Overstock.com starts selling vacation packages Frequent flier: Get more than 100,000 miles fast

JetBlue will soon offer speedier lines at selected airport security checkpoints for a small fee. Within a few months, customers who buy the airline's "Even More Legroom Seats" will be granted access to speedier TSA lines at airports equipped to handle them. The service—which also comes with priority boarding and seats with about 38 inches of legroom—will vary in price from $20 to $50 additional each way. At airports without fast-track lanes, JetBlue may give paying customers a free pass to jump to the front of the ordinary security lines. (I wonder how well that's going to go over with other fliers.) JetBlue's offering takes the priority boarding concept to the coach class masses. if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('3819fb01-aff7-42b3-8fee-42095f9f3176');Get the Poll Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)For years, American and United/Continental have kept open fast security lines for their first-and business-class passengers. Since 2008, Southwest has offered passengers paying top dollar for Business Select status access to faster security lines at dozens of airports. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Would you pay extra for a fast-track security line? Vote in our poll! MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Should D.C.'s museums start charging fees? Taxing controversy: Should hotels or booking engines be paying more in taxes? Rome to tax tourists instead of locals For more info on JetBlue's announcement: [Associated Press] [Jaunted]

How many times have you watched a television program about a captivating destination and suddenly had the urge to go there? It probably happens a fair amount, so it makes sense that the Travel Channel is finally making it that much easier for viewers to do just that by joining forces with Oyster.com, a hotel review and booking site. This week, the Travel Channel, home to shows such as "Man v. Food" and "Ghost Adventures," made a meaningful investment ($7.5 million, according to news reports) in Oyster.com, the company said in a release. The new relationship with Oyster.com "allows us to go beyond the inspiration and entertainment we offer on television," said Laureen Ong, Travel Channel president. So what does this mean for avid watchers of the channel? Well, according to the agreement, the Travel Channel and TravelChannel.com will have access to exclusive Oyster.com content, and the brands will also collaborate on programming and crossover promotions. For instance, TravelChannel.com already teamed up with Oyster.com to post a list of family-friendly spring break accommodations on its site. For now, you won't be able to find hotels in all the destinations featured on the Travel Channel. "We don't cover every city on the planet — not yet, at least," Oyster.com admits on its site. Thus far, Oyster.com covers hotels in several major U.S. cities (Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.) and in beach destinations (Aruba, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, Jamaica and the U.S. Virgin Islands). The site was founded in 2008 and is intended to be an objective resource for hotel reviews — based mainly around numerous "honest" photos of properties taken by Oyster.com secret shoppers who go to the hotels unannounced, depicting the good, the bad and the ugly that hotels have to offer. Oyster.com recommends hotels in several different categories across destinations, ranging from boutique hotels in New York to all-inclusives in Aruba, and users can then book the properties listed on the site. "The only way to really know about a place is to actually go there. Everything else is just a guess," said Elie Seidman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Oyster.com. More from Budget Travel: Advice From the Hungriest Man Alive TripAdvisor tries to respond to fake hotel reviews Expedia reveals rewards program details

In what has played out like a bizarre chain reaction over the last month, the Federal Aviation Administration has been plagued with a series of unfortunate—and very public—embarrassments relating to their air traffic control. The latest snafu was about as high-profile as it gets—on April 18, First and Second Ladies Michelle Obama and Jill Biden were flying from New York City, where they were taping an episode of ABC's The View, to Washington, D.C. on a Boeing 737. Around 5pm, the jet came within three miles of a military C17 flying in the airspace directly ahead. Controllers at Andrews grounded the jet, citing a violation of the minimum five-mile buffer zone required between C17s and other aircrafts to avoid excessive turbulence. if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('0eb770d8-04dc-45e9-8674-53bb880cfa1d');Get the Poll Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info) An investigation into the incident is still in progress, and FAA regulations have been changed so that an air traffic supervisor, rather than a controller, is responsible for monitoring flights carrying the First Lady. However, According to a statement from the FAA, "the aircraft were never in any danger," and there's been some grumbling among online forums about the media's sensationalism of the Obama-Biden debacle. Not so with the other fiasco that's currently getting damage control treatment from the FAA. No less than seven separate incidents involving air traffic controllers either falling asleep or otherwise idling on the job have made their way into national headlines this month. In case you missed any of them (I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had trouble keeping track), here's a brief rundown of reported events: • On March 22, an air traffic controller at Reagan International Airport, in Washington, D.C. was suspended after he fell asleep at the controls and two planes with a combined total of 165 people on board were forced to land without his assistance. • On March 29, two controllers on the graveyard shift at Preston Smith International Airport in Lubbock, TX were suspended after they failed to respond to several calls from aircraft and another control tower. • On April 6, national media picked up news of an air traffic controller slumbering while on duty at Knoxville's McGhee-Tyson airport. According to some reports, he pulled out all the stops, fashioning himself a makeshift bed of couch cushions from the break room. • On April 11, Seattle was the scene of the crime—another air traffic controller was suspended after supervisors caught him sleeping on the job. • Two days later, on April 13, a controller at Reno-Tahoe International fell asleep while a medical plane carrying three patients was attempting to land. Later that day, the FAA announced that 27 towers around the country staffed by a single controller at that point would be supplemented with an additional controller. • On April 17, an air traffic controller working at Cleveland's Air Route Traffic control center was caught watching a movie on a portable DVD player when the audio was accidentally transmitted over the frequency for the airspace he was monitoring. In case you're curious, the film was reportedly 2007's widely-panned The Cleaner. • April 17 was a double whammy: a controller at Miami International Airport was also suspended after a co-worker reported him asleep on the job. The incidents have led to something of a shake-up in the 52-year old government agency. In a statement published by the FAA, US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said controllers are expected to "come to work rested and ready to work and take personal responsibility for safety in the control towers." The FAA has "zero tolerance for sleeping on the job," he continued, "and we will continue to make whatever changes are necessary." New FAA rules have been instated: air traffic controllers are now required to take nine hours off in between shifts (rather than the previous eight). Controllers are also forbidden to swap shifts unless they would have a nine-hour gap between their last shift and the one they'd be taking on. A debate is heating up among experts and the public alike about whether controllers should be allowed to take naps on their breaks—the FAA does not permit it, but break time napping is allowed for controllers in countries such as Japan and Germany. What's your take on all of this? Should the FAA make further amendments to better provide for air traffic controllers' needs, or is the onus on the controllers to display more professionalism? —Rachel Mosely MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL 26 places we'd rather be on a Wednesday What's with all the food photos? Should we tip flight attendants?