More Holiday Travel News
AAA’s estimations predict that travel will increase by 3.8% over last year’s numbers. In total, that means more than 3 million people will be traveling this holiday season than in 2008.
Experts believe that these increases in travel are because Americans are becoming more confident about their financial situations. This could be good news considering that the country is still in the midst of the largest recession in more than quarter century.
AAA’s report says that many Americans will be staying home this year due to high unemployment rates and low discretionary income. The report continues on to say that consumers who are traveling are focused on controlling travel expenses rather than cancelling travel entirely.
This year, from December 23 to January 3, 8.7 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from their homes. The predicted amount of travelers over the 12-day period is much higher than the 84.5 million seen in 2008. A vast majority of these people will be traveling by car and airplane with 88% taking it to the skies and the streets this winter.
The remaining travelers will be getting to their holiday destinations by train, bus, boat or other means. We’re not sure what those “other means” of travel are, but we’re going to pretend that they mean pogo sticks and dog sleds.
AAA warns airline travelers to expect crowded airports this holiday season. In order to cut costs, several airlines have removed flights. According to BestFares.com’s Tom Parsons, flights are going to be “super full.” And because of the shortage of flights, there is a greater chance that flights can be cancelled due to bad weather.
These increased in travel seem to be unaffected by the increases in prices. AAA’s report stated that gas prices were 50 cents higher this November when compared to year-over-year price changes. The prices of airfare and car rentals have also increased, and are up 2%.
