Out-of-town travel will be up this Memorial Day holiday, announced AAA at a news conference May 17th. AAA estimates 1.7% increase from last year for the holiday weekend traditionally regarded as the start of the summer season travel. This holiday will see 38.3 million Americans travel long distance, defined as 50 miles or more from home.
"High gas prices won't deter Americans from traveling this Memorial Day," said AAA Travel Vice President Sandra Hughes at a news conference in the Reagan National Airport.
Gas prices nationwide are currently averaging $3.04 a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline, says the AAA news release. This price is up 25˘ from a month ago and more than 15˘ higher than this time last year.
About 84% of all Memorial holiday travelers will go by automobile or about 32 million travelers, said Hughes. Another 11%—4.4 million—plan to go by air.
For the coming summer season, the Travel Industry Association (TIA) is predicting leisure travel will increase 1.4% over last summer. Air travel appears to be increasing more than auto travel compared to last summer, according to the Senior Vice President of Research for TIA, Dr. Suzanne Cook. TIA is forecasting a 3% rise during the June, July, August season.
The research for the Memorial Day weekend cited by AAA is based on a national online survey of 2,000 adults, administered by TIA in behalf of AAA.
Price of Gasoline Tipping Point
TIA conducts the TravelHorizons survey in partnership with Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell (YPB&R), a marketing, advertising and public relations agency. Their research (plus another study by AAA) found that gasoline prices at their current levels of $3.00 discourage only a relatively small number of Americans (11%) who feel the need to make adjustments in their summer plans.
"The real tipping point seems to be $3.50 a gallon gas, with nearly one-third saying they would cancel their trip if the national average reached that point," says a TIA's analysis report.
Short Vacations Preferred
YPB&R reports on its website that "the frenetic pace of contemporary life" has been eroding vacation time that Americans have each year. It's down to less than two weeks (13 days) compared to 26 days in Canada and 42 days in Italy. The short time available explains why the weekend trip for four nights (or less) that includes Saturday night has become the majority (52%) of all vacations taken by Americans in 2006.
Travel to Eastern Europe Up 55% for AAA
While the currency exchange rates to Western Europe dampen the number of Americans traveling there, countries like "the UK, France and Italy continue to be top destinations," said Hughes. Many are choosing, however, to visit countries where the dollar is stronger.
Based on data of AAA travel agency bookings, tour bookings to Western Europe are down 2.4%, compared to last summer, while travel to Eastern Europe is up by 55%. At AAA, travel to Croatia is up by 69%, Slovenia is up by 100%, Poland is up 10%, Hungary is up 76% and bookings to Romania are up an amazing 700%, according to Hughes.
These results may or may not hold for other travel agencies. AAA has 1,100 travel agencies that conduct nearly $4 billion in sales.
AAA is North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization with 50 million members. Founded in 1902, AAA is a not-for-profit corporation and the oldest and largest federation of motor clubs in the country, according to information AAA provides to the public.
Travel Industry Association or TIA is "an umbrella travel association for more than 2,000 travel-related organizations in the U.S. TIA's membership includes all 56 state and territorial tourism offices, more than 300 convention and visitor bureaus and hundreds of other travel businesses, such as hotels, airlines, cruise companies, attractions and many others," said Dr. Suzanne Cook, Senior Vice President of Research for the TIA, 2/8/2005 at the National Press Club.
Tips for Air Passengers at Reagan National and Dulles International
At the news conference, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority offered some advice for summer travel at Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International Airports.
Parking is expected to be at a premium at Reagan National, especially on Tuesdays through Thursdays. It's a good idea to check parking availability before heading to the airport. Check www.mwaa.com or call 703-417-PARK to speak to a parking aid 24-hours a day. The website above also provides information on parking rates.
Parking shouldn't be an issue even in the summertime at Dulles International, which has more than 25,000 parking spaces.
For picking up passengers at either airport, the Cell Phone Waiting Area permits you to wait for free for up to one hour.
During peak travel times, it is recommended to arrive at the airport 2 hours before domestic flights and 3 hours before international flights. The busiest days of the week are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
Carry-on luggage is limited to one carry-on bag plus one personal item. The latter includes laptops, purses, small backpacks, briefcases, or camera cases.
Feeds