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A\u00a0new reality<\/a>\u00a0is setting in for travelers worldwide: rising fees, fewer flight options, and difficult decisions about whether a trip is worth the cost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The culprit is volatile oil and\u00a0jet fuel prices<\/a>, which have spiked sharply since\u00a0the war in the Middle East<\/a>\u00a0began and fighting near the narrow Strait of Hormuz created a chokepoint for global oil supplies.<\/p>\n \u201cVolatility is the real story here,\u201d said Shye Gilad, a former airline captain who now teaches at Georgetown University\u2019s business school. \u201cRight now, the airlines are trying to make bets on what they think will happen in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Airlines are responding cautiously, trimming schedules and\u00a0adjusting prices<\/a>\u00a0in ways that experts say will ripple unevenly across the market but ultimately affect nearly every type of traveler.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Budget airlines and the price-conscious customers who rely on them are likely to feel the pinch first and most acutely, experts say, but even travelers in premium cabins won\u2019t escape the higher prices and less convenient schedules.<\/p>\n Oil prices have swung wildly in recent weeks, briefly topping $119 a barrel at one point, plunging Wednesday\u00a0below $95<\/a>\u00a0on news of a two-week ceasefire that temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz, and then\u00a0climbing back<\/a>\u00a0toward $100 on Thursday as\u00a0uncertainty over the fragile deal grew<\/a>. Iran again closed the key artery for global oil shipments\u00a0in response to Israeli strikes<\/a>\u00a0Wednesday in Lebanon.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen prices move quickly in both directions, it\u2019s very hard for airlines to make predictions,\u201d Gilad said. \u201cThat\u2019s why there\u2019s a lag between oil market moves and what passengers see in ticket prices.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n