Procrastination Pays for Thanksgiving Travelers
In any other year, consumers would be urged to purchase their travel arrangements far ahead of time in order to save money. But in 2009, good things may very well come to travelers who wait.
This holiday season, airline travel is expected to be down 7%. While this isn’t good for the airline industry, it could be good for travelers making reservations closer to the big holiday. Many of the major airlines are offering last minute deals for Thanksgiving travel in order to fill the droves of empty seats.
The AAA Leisure Travel Index shows that the lowest published airfares over the holiday weekend are 4% lower than usual – a small number that can create big savings when it comes to flying.
Flyers aren’t the only travelers who will benefit from lower holiday travel costs this year. Car rentals are down more than 3% from last year. These savings could be offset by gas prices, however, which are estimated to be about $.50 higher than they were at Thanksgiving last year. Crowded highways could also affect holiday travel times, with about 2% more people opting to travel by car this year.
As an alternative to both driving and flying, Amtrak trains are also going to offer value ticket prices to last-minute travelers. In order to accommodate larger crowds partially anticipated due to the decline in airline travel, Amtrak has scheduled extra trains.
A spokesperson for Amtrak said that this year, many trains will be double their normal length to accommodate more travelers. The train and schedule expansions are said to be even larger than the normal capacity adjustments made by Amtrak before and after every Thanksgiving.
