| Pricey gas crimping Memorial Day travel plans
High fuel prices are prompting many Americans to reconsider their Memorial Day travel plans, AAA says. The automobile club released a survey Thursday projecting that the number of Americans traveling more than 50 miles from home over the long holiday weekend will fall nearly 1 percent from last year. .
Recession-proof travel
With a tightening economy across the board and travel expenses in particular putting the squeeze on your budget (can you say "fuel prices?"), many travelers are looking for ways to "Go Anyway" without going broke as well. However, while it's important to keep an eye on your budget while traveling, there are certain parts of your trip where you may not want to cut corners. Following are my guidelines for when and when not to worry about money when traveling in a recession economy. Let's start by saying it's not necessarily all bad news out there for travelers — the dynamics of supply and demand sometimes work for you and sometimes work against you. As more folks opt to take fewer trips, take shorter trips or even stay home, the opposite effect is that there are more empty seats, open hotel rooms and rental cars on the lot — in short, more good deals.
Memorial Day Travel
Fewer Americans will travel over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, compared to last year. According to AAA, 38 million people will travel 50 or more miles away from home -- a decrease of 360 thousand travelers from 2007. Travelers renting cars over the holiday weekend will pay about 45% more -- an average rate of 45 dollars a day. Hotels, however, are offering a bit of a break. The average price per night is $162 dollars, a seven percent decrease from last year. .
Holiday travel to be down slightly
TAMPA - Experts are predicting an almost imperceptible drop in the number of people planning to travel across the nation during the Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA Auto Club South. Nationwide, 37.8 million people are expected to travel more than 50 miles, a decrease of 0.9 percent from last year's total of 38.2 million. The southeastern U.S. reflects the same rate of decrease, AAA officials said Thursday. In Florida, more than 2 million residents are expected to travel. In the Southeast, the number of people who intend to travel by car is projected to drop by 0.7 percent and the number going by plane is expected to decline 1.2 percent over last year's figure. Holiday auto travelers will find gas prices nationwide currently averaging $3.75 per gallon of self-serve regular gasoline - 40 cents higher than last month and 64 cents higher than this time last year.
Summer Travel Tips | Video
Planning for your summer vacation? You`re not alone. Travel Agents like Rhonda DeMakis are busy helping travelers get off the ground to their favorite summer destination.
"One of the most popular ones we`ve seen in our office is New York," says Rhonda DeMakis from the International Travel Agency.
Taking a bite out of the Big Apple may not be as easy as it used to be. With airlines shutting down or merging and gas prices skyrocketing, travel agents warn that waiting until the last minute won`t pay off in the long run.
"Try and really plan ahead and really do be somewhat flexible. We`ll do all we can to try and help," says DeMakis.
"Be prepared though. I think that`s the biggest thing people try to do the last minute travel and what ends up happening is you`re going to pay last minute prices," says Melanie Bradley, from Satrom Travel & Tour.
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