AAA projects 34.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, a slight increase of 0.2 percent or 100,000 travelers from the 34.8 million people who traveled one year ago. The Memorial Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, May 26 to Monday, May 30.
“Memorial Day travel experienced a gain of more than 14 percent in 2010, and this year we expect to add slightly to that gain due to an increase in air travel and an improvement in the overall domestic economic picture”, said AAA President and CEO Robert L. Darbelnet. Some travelers will compensate for the higher fuel costs by cutting other areas of their travel budgets.
Approximately 30.9 million people plan to drive to their destination, a small decline from the 31 million who drove last year. In spite of gasoline prices more than a dollar per gallon higher than a year ago, automobile travel continues to be the dominant mode of transportation. Almost nine out of ten holiday travelers (88 percent) will take to the nation’s roadways during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The national average price for regular gasoline is about $1.00 more than one year ago.
Impact of gasoline prices on travel plans
A survey of intended travelers found that six out of ten said rising gasoline prices would not impact their travel plans. Of the remaining four out of ten travelers who said rising gas prices would impact their travel plans, 70 percent will economize in other areas and the rest will take a shorter trip or travel by an alternate mode of transportation.
Travelers concerned about how fuel prices will impact their travel budget can use AAA’s free, GPS-based TripTik Mobile application to compare prices for all grades of gasoline at nearby stations.
Number of air travelers expected to increase by 11.5 percent
Nearly 2.93 million leisure air travelers (eight percent of holiday travelers) will fly during the holiday weekend, an 11.5 percent increase from last year’s 2.63 million air travelers. The remaining three percent of holiday travelers are expected to travel by other modes, including rail, bus and watercraft.
