Concerns alter destination decisions; some abandon summer travel plans altogether

LOS ANGELES, May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- LowFares.com™, the travel comparison search site for cheap flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages, reported today that higher oil prices are impacting consumer travel and destination decisions.  The resulting increases in gas prices and airfares, according to a survey completed in April, are causing some travelers to abandon travel plans for the summer.

The survey results also validated other key trends regarding summer travel:

• The broad majority of respondents—over 72%—said fuel and airfare increases have impacted their travel plans.
• When asked about changes in plans, 63% said they had cancelled their trips.
• 36% changed destinations to stay closer to home or shortened itineraries to save money.
• 67% of travelers are booking within two months of intended departure.

Scott Morrow, General Manager of Vertical Markets and Senior Vice President of Oversee.net, noted the current consumer travel preferences were being affected by the global economic environment as well as rising gas and airfares.  "The real concerns this year, versus last summer, are the prices of airline tickets and the pain at the gas pump," he said. "More people are waiting until the last minute to see if prices improve, or if they'll just have to take fewer trips this summer."

Morrow also said more subscribers are searching for travel deals. Packages to the Caribbean and Cancun are very popular with deals for Las Vegas and Europe a favorite in summertime. Air deals from major airlines are the best draw- especially domestic round-trip fares that cover all the major U.S. cities.

The LowFares.com Internet survey was conducted among its subscribers from April 1, 2011, through April 30, 2011. More than 15,000 participated from a base of over 1.5 million subscribers. Subscribers receive weekly newsletters highlighting top travel deals; LowFares.com also conducts monthly giveaways and contests for subscribers.

About LowFares.com™
LowFares.com, an Oversee.net company, is a leader in finding cheap flights, hotels, rental cars, travel deals and vacation packages. With more than 4 million unique visitors per month and 1.5 million loyal subscribers, LowFares.com offers an online experience that allows travelers to search multiple travel providers simultaneously.

About Oversee.net
Oversee.net® is the leader in Internet real estate, specializing in monetizing, registering, selling and developing domain names. The company provides an array of managed services to domain investors, corporations, and individuals across more than ten million web sites. Oversee owns one of the largest portfolios of domain names in the world—more than 1 million names. The company's unique optimized technology connects consumers and advertisers with highly relevant advertisements. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Portland, Oregon, Pompano Beach, Florida, New York City and Frankfurt, Germany, the company's core brands include DomainSponsor®, SnapNames®, Moniker®, DOMAINfest®, LowFares.comTM, AboutAirport Parking.com®, ShopWiki and CreditCards.org.  To learn more, please visit www.oversee.net.

SOURCE Oversee.net