Travelocity’s annual “Traveler Confidence Report” finds that 53 percent of consumers plan to travel more in 2012 than they did in 2011, despite a lack of confidence in the state of the economy. This is an 18 percentage point year-over-year increase from 2011. Of those respondents who planned on increasing their travel this year, about two-thirds plan to increase their travel budget in 2012, while slightly more than one-third will travel more without allocating more dollars to travel, indicating they plan to stretch their dollars further.

            Some of the increase is due to higher prices, according to Carl Sparks, president and CEO of Travelocity, but the increased spending is also because travelers are taking more trips or longer ones.

            In 2012, there is a 6 percentage point increase in people (compared to last year) who plan to increase their travel budget. Only slightly more than half actually have a predetermined travel budget this year.

In order to save money, nearly 50 percent of respondents will increase their comparison shopping, date flexibility and begin booking further in advance. About 70 percent of respondents intend to book vacation packages (flight plus hotel) or book hotels via flash sales, while 40 percent are likely to consider booking an opaque hotel.

            This year, 76 percent of respondents plan to spend the same or increase their hotel spending to account for hotel rate increases, taking more trips and longer hotel stays. What respondents won’t be spending money on are hotel services or amenities -- they are highly unlikely to pay for offerings such as maid service, newspapers or personal check-in.

            A little more than one-third said that they were likely to book a hotel near home for a short getaway in the next six months.

            Most -- 79 percent -- plan to spend the same or more than what they spent last year on air. Those who expect to spend more (47 percent) are doing that because airfares are going up or because they’re going to travel more or farther away.

            When it comes to airline ancillary fees, the only service that a significant number of respondents (52 percent) are likely to pay for is one checked bag. Similar to last year’s survey, the overwhelming majority are unlikely to pay for anything else such as advanced seating assignment, extra legroom, a second bag and/or early boarding.