The “2009 dumbest moments in travel” – from the Travel Insights 100

In 2009, the travel industry provided us with plenty to complain about. From new fees to late night TSA subpoenas to bloggers, there never seems to be a limit to the dumb things they manage to come up with. The Travel Insights 100 asked its members to submit their own favorite dumb travel moment.

Several Gadling bloggers are part of the group of 100, and my own dumbest moment is included in the presentation. I picked fees, and the way fees are introduced. Fees beat out anything else the airlines did in my opinion, because it is the one thing that is going to keep annoying us for years to come.

Fees also annoy me because of their copycat status. For some reason, when one airline adds a new fee, others seem to follow within hours. Dumbest fee’s of 2009? The “peak travel” surcharge added to tickets on holidays, and the British Airways seat selection fee.

Travel Insights 100 reveals the importance of Twitter in the travel world

Like it or hate it – Twitter is here to stay. I’ll admit that I was one of those that tried to stay away from the service as long as I could. But eventually, I gave in, and I too have become obsessed with checking the latest from the people I follow.

The Travel Insights 100 is a collection of 100 industry experts from all corners of the travel world. The list of members is a real who’s who, and even includes several of us from here at Gadling.

The first Travel Insights 100 survey asked its members about Twitter and travel. The results describe how people use Twitter, and what direction they expect Twitter to take in the future. Check the results below (click the “full” button for a full screen view of the results).