cost counts
A survey by Decision Analyst Inc. of 5,184 consumers who fly at least once a year found that cost is the top consideration in selecting an airline, cited by 32 percent. Some 24 percent said their previous experience with an airline was most important. Asked which airline they'd use if schedules and fares were equal, frequent travelers (who fly once a month or more) most often named American (22 percent), Delta (17 percent) and United (11 percent). Southwest and Continental tied for fourth place. "The type of service offered by the low-cost airlines—or at least by Southwest—is just not as appealing to the frequent, typically business, traveler as is the traditional airline model," a Decision Analyst spokesman said.

spotting clots
There's been a lot of publicity and lawsuits about airline passengers developing deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), or blood clots in the legs, on long flights. But a new study sponsored by the Australian government found that the real risk of a dangerous clot developing on a long-distance flight is just one in 40,000 for the average middle-aged flyer. The risk of death is just one in 2 million, the study determined. The risk is even lower for younger travelers, but it is higher for women taking birth-control pills or hormone replacement therapy, and for pregnant women, cancer and heart patients, and anyone who has had recent surgery.

pumping up
A study by Westin Hotels discovered a conflict between business travelers' attitudes toward exercise on the road, and the kinds of facilities offered by hotels. In the survey, 90 percent of the respondents said exercise relieves the stress of business travel, and 59 percent said the quality of a hotel's workout room would be important in their choice of lodging. However, 61 percent said they have encountered hotels with no fitness facilities, and 53 percent said they often didn't like the ones they did find. Problems: Rooms were too crowded, not open long enough hours, and had broken equipment. Westin is teaming up with Reebok and spending $10 million to upgrade facilities in 77 of its properties.

stable spending
Will you be traveling more in 2004? Probably not, according to a survey by travel management company WorldTravel BTI of 127 corporate customers. More than three out of five companies said they expect to spend about the same on travel in 2004 as they did in 2003; and the rest said the 2004 budget was likely to increase or decrease by less than 10 percent. About one-third of the companies said they will impose new controls on traveling employees in 2004, most often by requiring them to use company-sponsored Internet-based booking systems, book preferred vendors and report expenses online.

preferred places
Which domestic destinations do business travelers most enjoy visiting? According to a Travelocity poll of 600 road warriors, San Francisco ranked number one, followed by Chicago, New Orleans, San Diego, Las Vegas and Orlando. The city they said they'd most like to avoid? Los Angeles, followed by New York, Chicago, Dallas and Houston. The travelers rated Atlanta Hartsfield as their connecting airport of choice, followed by O'Hare, Denver, DFW and Orlando. Their least favorite hub was Newark, followed by O'Hare, LAX, LaGuardia, Boston Logan and Philadelphia.