With just a few hours left in good ‘ole 2008, we’re looking ahead to next year and what the coming months will hold for travelers. Over the past year, travelers have had their fair share of unpleasant travel developments to contend with. We’re talking sky-high gas prices, airline fees, bankrupt airlines and unprecedented airfares, just to name a few. With those realities in mind, we’re happy to report that there are plenty of things for the avid traveler to look forward to in 2009.

Here are five:

Wi-fi, finally: Virgin America, American Airlines and Delta Airlines have already started rolling out AirCell’s Gogo in-flight wireless Internet service on select planes, but most travelers have yet to find themselves on an aircraft that offers it. Expect to finally be able to test the service in 2009, as each airline adds the service to more of its fleet. Also in 2009, we hear GoGo rival Row 44 has plans to bring its in-flight Internet service to Southwest and Alaska Airlines.

Liquid relief: Nothing’s official yet, but next year may bring the end of the super-annoying restrictions on liquids and gels at the airport. TSA Chief Kip Hawley told the media in October that he expects his administration to relax the rules next fall, thanks to new X-Ray machines capable of better liquid bomb detection than previously available.

Deals, deals, deals: Though travel is expected to drop-off significantly during the first part of next year, those with the funds and inclination to travel will find plenty of ways to do it on the cheap in the coming months. Although we’re expecting airfares to hold steady for the time being, there will be plenty of deals to be had at hotels, resorts and on cruises – especially if you’re willing to book now for a trip later in 2009. At the beginning of the year, be on the lookout for ongoing promotions at ski resorts. Many are expecting a seriously slow winter season and are rolling out deals on lodging, lift tickets and equipment rentals to compensate.

More roadtrips: Who doesn’t love hitting the open road? Especially when gas is the cheapest it’s been in years. In 2009, road trips will once again be affordable for travelers. Need some suggestions for where to go on your next behind-the-wheel adventure? Check out our round-up: 4 Great U.S. Roadtrips that Spin Our Wheels.

London calling: With the British pound hitting record lows against the euro in recent days, it’s an excellent time to visit the UK – a destination many U.S. travelers have crossed off their lists over the last few years simply because of the high cost of lodging, dining and entertainment. While the pound is, at present, still stronger than the dollar, its falling value should take the sting out of a visit to London in ‘09.

Here’s a little-known travel trick that even the most frequent air passengers often forget: if you buy a non-refundable ticket from an airline and later discover that the fare has dropped, you can often secure a refund or credit for the amount, as long as the new fare you find is for the identical itinerary.

As USA Today‘ Gary Stoller explains, many airlines will pay travelers the difference - as long as you discover the price decrease and request the refund or credit before you fly.

What varies is how airlines are willing to compensate travelers. Some - like Southwest - will simply issue a refund for the difference. Others, including United and JetBlue, will only issue the refund in the form of a credit voucher good for use one year from the original date of travel. And some airlines, including Delta and US Airways, will issue credit vouchers, but require passengers to pay a change of travel fee of up to $150 that may cancel out the fare difference.

If you regularly fly an airline with customer-friendly refund policies, it’s not a bad idea to get in the habit of browsing current fares for your itinerary a week (or a few days, even) before you fly.

[Source: Ever an airplane ticket and the price later fell? Get a refund.]

Frontier Airlines announced a new fare structure yesterday called Frontier AirFairs that I’m betting will become more and more common among U.S. domestic carriers in the coming years. It’s a lot like Air Canada’s current fare structure.

Basically, fares are priced according to the amount of service and amenities that come with them. So if you want, say, a fully-changeable ticket and plan to check bags, drink adult beverages and use the in-flight television programming when you fly, then you’d probably want to opt for the most expensive fare, called Classic Plus, because it includes all those things “free” of charge. But if flying cheap is your priority, then you can go for the bare bones economy ticket, which requires you to pay a fee for itinerary changes, checked bags and other amenities.

A summary of the three fare levels:

Classic Plus: Fare includes a fully-refundable, changeable ticket. Passengers traveling on this fare can change to different flights with available seats on their day of travel. They also receive priority boarding, two checked bags, free in-flight television use, snacks and premium beverages and more mileage credit than other fare levels.

Classic: Fare allows travelers to make advance seat assignments, check two bags, use the in-flight television service and make itinerary changes for $50-$75. Passengers flying on this fare will accrue more mileage points than basic economy travelers, but fewer than Classic Plus travelers for the same flight.

Economy: A basic ticket with no perks. The guaranteed lowest fare, but plan on fees for any extras.

I’m a fan of this kind of graduated pricing structure. It allows travelers who want to tack on the extras to have a more comfortable flight, while giving those who’d rather fly frill-free the chance to do so and save money. It’s travel freedom, plain and simple, and I’d like to see more of it.

We’ve waited oh-so-long for in-flight wireless Internet access, and it seems it is finally, slowly, creeping into existence. Who knows? Maybe someday it will actually be available on a plane we board. In the meantime, we are finding solace in the news that Delta launched its in-flight wireless Internet, powered by Aircell’s GoGo service, yesterday on six aircraft in the carrier’s fleet. Five are MD-88 planes flying shuttles between Boston, LaGuardia and Washington Reagan, and the other is a Boeing 757 that will be making its way through the domestic system in the coming weeks and months.

Eventually, logging-on in-flight will cost between $9.95-$12.95, depending on the length of your journey, but Delta has apparently gotten bitten by the holiday spirit: through Dec. 31, the service will be available free of charge on the MD-88 shuttle flights.

Delta says it plans to have 10 planes up and running with the service by year’s end, and continue adding service to its fleet steadily over the course of 2009. Plans to extend in-flight wireless to Northwest’s fleet are in the works. Installation should begin sometime late next year.

[Source: Gogo Inflight Internet Service Ready to Take Flight for Delta Customers]

Kayak.com (our parent company) CEO Steve Hafner dishes about the travel industry, Kayak.com and his own travel beefs in Five Questions with Kayak CEO Steve Hafner posted today on USA Today’s Today in the Sky.

Check it out to learn Hafner’s take on upcoming travel industry consolidation, changes to Kayak.com’s web site, answering 1000+ emails a day and the drudgery of airport security lanes.

New Englanders who heart Virgin America will have a reason to swoon come Valentine’s Day 2009. The airline with mood lighting and in-flight chatting announced today that it will begin service between Boston Logan International Airport and San Francisco and Los Angeles International Airports on Feb. 12. Tickets are already on sale.

For Chicagoans, the news may come as somewhat of a blow. Last week the airline said it was scrapping plans to bring service to the Windy City after failing to snag its preferred gates.

An added bonus for business travelers schlepping back and forth between the West Coast and Boston? The airline is in the middle of adding in-flight wireless Internet to its entire fleet - a process it hopes to complete by mid-2009.

….Nothing, except they all made our list of travel news items for the day:

In the New York Times, Joe Sharkey laments the return of the Saturday night stay rule, designed to discourage business travelers from booking the lowest airfares.

At the same time a hated old rule may be coming back, a well-loved new airline has launched its latest new route. Virgin America began flights between Seattle-Tac and Los Angeles International today.

Moving on from planes flying high in the sky, we land on news of a visa crack down in China. Chinese authorities have reportedly begun limiting visas in Hong Kong, which is popular entry point for travelers to the vast nation. The changes are reportedly in response to security concerns expected to come with the influx of tourists visiting the country before, during and after the Olympics.

Back in the States, we learned that the FAA has responded to increased criticism and scrutiny of its airline safety inspection practices by reassigning (but not firing) its top inspection official to a pencil-pushing administrative position instead.

And that’s not the only travel-related spring cleaning that’s going on today. Gizmodo highlights an airplane cabin for sale on eBay. Wondering what one would do with an intact airplane cabin? The seller has plenty of creative, if not practical, ideas.

If you’re looking for more creative ideas, you’ll find plenty among the 2008 Webby Award nominees, which were announced today. We weren’t surprised to see our parent company, Kayak.com, on the list.

And speaking of awards, here are some for all the four-legged travelers in the house: Animal Fair magazine has announced its 2008 Cesar Five Dog Bone Awards for best pet-friendly companies. Continental won out among airlines, while Austin’s The Driskill Hotel prevailed in the hotel category. The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess scored highest in the resort category.

What’s the biggest travel news of the day? Well, for airlines, things are still looking pretty bleak. Joining Aloha Airlines and ATA, Skybus shuttered its doors over the weekend, and British Airways is still trying to paw its way out of the Heathrow Terminal 5 mess that’s made its shiny new building the hub of what is quite possibly the biggest travel debacle thus far in 2008. Continental has decided to join the fray of airlines charging $25 for coach passengers to check a second piece of luggage.

While some airlines are busy charging travelers more, some are having sales. JetBlue’s spring sale is going on now and keeps popping up on just about every travel newsletter I’ve gotten today - and I get a lot of travel deals newsletters. Speaking of JetBlue, I had been wondering about the exact cost of JetBlue’s new extra legroom offering ever since I learned of the new program, and now we have the answer. The New York Times reported yesterday that the airline is pricing its roomier seats (38″ of pitch) at $10 extra for flights under 600 miles, $15 for those between 600 and 1,500 miles and $20 for flights over 1,500 miles.

Extra legroom isn’t the only new perk to be offered to airline passengers. Today, the EU announced that it will allow aircraft operating in the region to offer in-flight mobile phone services. Get ready for some in-flight altercations to go along with that. Like star-crossed lovers that just can’t call it quits, Delta and Northwest are reportedly back in merger talks.

Meanwhile, Kiplinger’s has added a new Business Travel section to its online offerings. A quick perusal revealed some decent articles, nothing earth-shattering yet, but we’ll keep checking back.

And with that, we’re off to dig through more RSS feeds, blogs and travel news sources. Back tomorrow with more of the latest travel news.

Just so we’re all clear about this Open Skies business, you know - the agreement that goes into effect this coming Sunday, U.S. travelers may soon have more choices for traveling to and from Europe, but they shouldn’t count on those choices being any cheaper over the long run. Two stories to read, compare, ponder:

Getting to Europe Is About to Get Easier

Open Skies Won’t Mean Lower Fares

And all this leads us to an important question: how much will travelers value choice when prices are roughly the same?

My hope is that the increased competition that comes with the Open Skies agreement encourages better conditions for travelers - even those better conditions have nothing to do with cheaper airfares. Like better schedules, shorter travel times or the availability of more in-flight services…

The Clear program, which launched yesterday at both Washington’s Reagan National and Dulles International airports, is already reporting record-breaking usage of its new lanes at gateways to the nation’s capitol. Interestingly, I noticed yesterday morning at peak travel time on the West Coast - around 6:30 a.m. - that no one was using the Clear registered traveler lane in the terminal I happened to be entering at San Francisco International Airport. Given all the hype around the program, I was surprised to see that not one person used the lanes during the time I progressed through the security process. Just an observation.