Many larger companies are clamping down on travel costs by negotiating agreements with airlines and hotels to hold down prices. That can mean fewer choices for travelers as employers promise higher volume to specific lodging chains or air carriers in exchange for lower rates.

"You used to be able to pick your accommodations," says financial analyst Alan Murray, who works for a major credit rating firm in New York. "Where you stayed sent a message to the client." Now, he says, the reaction he gets from the home office is, "Haven't you heard of Motel 6?"

"And if that's how they feel, you sort of wonder: Why go?" he says.

But for companies in the financial sector and other industries that are laying off thousands of employees, such concerns may not engender much sympathy.

Michael Derchin, a securities analyst for FTN Midwest Securities in New York, says he books his own travel and doesn't have to be told to seek out alternative airlines and moderately priced hotels. "I'd feel funny submitting an expense report that could be seen as at all excessive," he says. "These days, it just isn't politically correct."

Bjorn Hanson, a hotel industry expert with PricewaterhouseCoopers, says that steady increases in hotel prices could force more travelers to go down-market. But some lodging firms see that as an opportunity to attract customers who once sneered at the prospect of staying at an expressway-exit chain. Hanson notes that of 38 new hotel brands that debuted in the past three years, about half are self-styled budget lines, and that most big chains like Hyatt and Hilton have launched spinoffs in the mid-priced range. On the flip side, Motel 6 has come out with a more upscale product to lure corporate business.

The same trends apply for international travel. Achala Srivatsa, who travels often for her job with the Nielsen Company, says part of the problem is the decline of the dollar versus the euro. "We definitely can't stay in a luxury hotel when we go to Europe," she says. But on a recent trip to Stockholm, she stayed in a boutique property in a nice part of town, somewhat compensating for having to travel overnight from New York in coach .

Boutique airlines haven't fared so well; the demise of lower-priced business airlines like Maxjet and Eos, which both flew between New York and London, has narrowed the options for those banned from traditional business- or first-class digs. Virgin Atlantic, though, reports strong demand for its "premium economy" cabin—a hybrid of its economy and business cabins.

And some large international airlines claim that they haven't seen any slowing in demand for their premium services. Singapore Airlines, which has a number of super-long hauls where business class is justified, is introducing an all -business-class jet with 100 seats on the 18-hour Newark, New Jersey, to Singapore nonstop run, as well as its Los Angeles-Singapore route. "If anything, we're seeing that many travelers will pay a premium for the time savings and extra comfort," says James Boyd, a spokesman for the carrier.