Combine skyrocketing oil prices and congested airports with a reduction in services, and you have the perfect formula for agonizing flight delays, not to mention the prices.

So as travelers, do we have any alternative options?

Peter tells Natalie Morales about some of these options, including taking the train or the bus instead of expensive flying.

And if all you can picture for buses and trains are Greyhound and Amtrak, it’s time to take a closer look at the alternatives.

Earlier this month, the Internal Revenue Service began mailing out tax rebates of up to $600 per person (and $1,800 for a family of four) to help stimulate the economy.

And the travel industry was quick to respond with their own stimulus packages — designed to attract as much of that $110 billion in rebates as possible.

So how’d they do? Well, tough times call for innovation and that’s what Peter told Natalie Morales about on Today …

When Southwest Airlines was recently fined a record $10.2 million for its failure to properly maintain its planes, it set off a wave of concern on the part of regulators, Congress and the flying public.

So this week, in a two-part series, the Today show took a closer look at the process of inspections and the general safety of the airline industry.

Watch this important segment, which features interviews with key players on the issue including Congressman James Oberstar, Acting FAA Chief Robert Sturgell, and a number of independent aviation safety experts.

There hasn’t been a crash by a major American airline in the news for quite a few years.

So that must mean planes are safer than ever, right?

Well, maybe not …

In fact, the recent FAA Inspectiongate and subsequent grounding of planes seems to have raised a number of concerns …

It’s the final day of “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?”

For the final stop on Matt’s exhausting round-the-world tour, he’s landed in a tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean.

This tiny island group is known as the Seychelles. A popular travel hotspot for Europeans, the Seychelles is off the radar of most Americans.

But there’s a lot of life and beauty packed into these small islands, as Matt will show you …

For the next segment of “Where in the World Is Matt Lauer?”, Matt’s off to a city that’s long been a global crossroads: Istanbul, Turkey.

Besides physically straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul also has deep roots culturally in both continents.

Join Matt Lauer as he discovers the hidden charms of this ancient city that sits astride the border between two continents.