It appears more and more Americans are making the move to book their travel online. In my case, I book 100% of my travel online, and have for the last 4-5 years actually. I do all of my research and buying thanks to the web and at this stage, find my use far and few between for an airline agent, and even less for a travel agent.

MSNBC reported today that “The year 2007 was the first in which more travel was purchased online than off-line in the U.S., according to the PhoCusWright Consumer Travel Trends Survey.” They go on to quote the report further which states that, “the gap between online and off-line will continue to widen as more and more travelers shift behavior to online shopping and buying.” The numbers showed that in 2007, 51% of airline travel was booked online with an expected increase to 56% in 2008 and 60% in 2009.

Count me among those that use the online options. With all the airlines online booking options and all the great discount ticket resellers…. I have personally saved a bundle of money and a lot of time via just taking care of all airline travel (and hotels and trains for that matter) via the web. As I see it, any other method is antiquated at best. As a matter of fact, in most instances now not using the web can cost you money as many airlines charge a fee to book via an agent.