Holiday travelers to shrug off gas pains
Record 31.1M Americans expected to hit roadways for Memorial Day weekend despite high pump prices.
May 18, 2005: 10:15 AM EDT
money.cnn.com
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans are expected to travel in record numbers this Memorial Day holiday despite sky-high gasoline prices, according to a AAA travel survey released Wednesday.
"Highest-ever holiday gas prices won't keep Americans from traveling," said AAA Travel Vice President Sandra Hughes in a release. "Prices might be 20 cents per gallon higher than last year's then-record levels, but gasoline remains a relatively small part of most travelers' vacation costs."
She added, "Look for another crowded holiday on the highways."
Approximately 31.1 million travelers expect to drive 50 miles or more for the Memorial Day holiday, the traditional start of the summer driving season. That is a 2.2 percent increase from the 30.5 million who drove in 2004, AAA said.
AAA said motorists should expect to pay about $2.16 a gallon for gasoline, 19 to 20 cents higher than record holiday levels a year ago.
Another 4.2 million plan on airplane travel, up 3.2 percent from 2004. A projected 1.9 million will go by train, bus or other transportation mode, about the same as 2004.
Air travelers will generally pay less to fly versus 2004, according to AAA. Its Leisure Travel Index showed cost for flights over the holiday weekend were averaging 10 percent less this year, with rental car rates down about 4 percent but hotel rates up 10 percent.
Travel tends to pick up in late spring as the nation's motorists take to the highways for vacations and normally school-bound high school and college students hit the roads.
The AAA average U.S. retail regular gasoline price on Wednesday was pegged at $2.149 a gallon, down from Tuesday's $2.16 and well below the $2.276 record price hit April 11. A year ago the AAA pegged the average at $1.99 a gallon.
The average for diesel was $2.291 a gallon on Wednesday, slipping from Tuesday's $2.298, but well above the year-ago average of $1.824, according to AAA data.
The record diesel price was $2.388 a gallon, like the gasoline record, hit on April 11 of this year.
The greatest number of Memorial Day auto travelers will originate in the West with 7.4 million, followed by the Southeast with 6.7 million, Midwest with 6.6 million, Northeast with 5.8 million and the Great Lakes region with 4.6 million, AAA said.
Research for Memorial Day travel is based on a national telephone survey of 1,300 adults by the Travel Industry Association of American, which conducts research for AAA.
AAA is North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, with 48 million members. |
