What’s going on with our vacation plans this summer, fellow roadtrippers?
AAA projects that 30.7 million people, including 1.6 million from Florida, plan to kick off their summer travel by driving to their destination over the Memorial Day weekend. That’s an increase of 1.2 percent from the 30.3 million who drove last year and it represents 88 percent of the 34.8 million Americans who plan to take a trip of at least 50 miles over the long weekend by all means of transportation.
Air travel, however, will be down 5.5 percent.
Among travel costs, only hotel rates are higher than last year, according to AAA. Airfare should be down 7 percent, car rental prices are down 4 percent, and the national average for a gallon of regular gas is $3.72 a gallon, down from $3.96 this time last year.
But travelers are still worried about the economy. They are cutting back on how far from home they plan to go, according to a AAA survey. This year the average distance traveled over the weekend is expected to be 642 miles, 150 miles less than last year’s average travel distance of 792 miles.
In addition, some travelers worried about the economy are switching to all-inclusive travel, such as cruises and tour packages, which make it easier to budget and pay up front for vacations, AAA said.
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