To Fly or Not to Fly - Cheap Flights vs. Safety and Security

Feb. 23, 2011 — -- The Mideast is in turmoil; Christchurch, New Zealand has been devastated by an earthquake; and the death toll in the Mexican drug wars continues to rise. What's a traveler to do?

Good question. Especially when some of these places -- I'm thinking of certain Mexican resort areas -- are so cheap. Bargain airfares abound, which might tempt some to travel to destination they'd be better off avoiding.

The first thing you should do (and this is true any time you're heading outside the U.S.), is check the U.S. State Department's website and read up on any travel warnings or alerts issued for your destination. Unfortunately, that doesn't give you the whole story, as we shall see.

So here's some free advice: in honor of this week's celebration of Presidents Day, let me quote a former commander in chief, Ronald Reagan, who used to say, "Trust, but verify." And let's talk about how to do that.

For more travel news and insights view Rick's blog at farecompare.com

Mexico is a wonderful country, but it has been slapped with a "travel warning" by the State Department. What does this mean?

It's somewhat confusing: the warning notes that "crime and violence are serious problems," and that's true enough in some regions where 35,000 people have died in drug cartel battles over the past four years.

However, many if not most of the dead were reportedly involved in narco-trafficking, and as the warning also states, "Millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year."

The Mexican government also works very hard to keep resort areas safe, and most of them are safe. I have friends who say they'd fly to Cabo in a heartbeat. They also say there's no way would they'd drive across the U.S.-Mexican border.

So does the State Department forbid U.S. citizens from traveling to Mexico? No. That kind of reminds me of certain websites where you're asked to check the little box where it says, "I have read and accept these terms" even when you haven't even glanced at the fine print. What do you do? You check the little box. We all do.