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There Is Still Hope For Cheap Airline Tickets
Many of us you may be itching to go on a long, dreamy vacation after being cooped up all winter. Whoa! There is a fly in the ointment. Gas prices have risen dramatically since last year, and this is putting the skids on many people's travel plans. Memorial Day traditionally marks the summer travel season. However, with the faltering economy and soaring fuel prices, people are starting to transform the way they commute as well as the ways they may escape.
Taking nice, long, leisurely road trips, taking cross-country flights and lush European vacations are now giving way to day trips, visits to national parks, drives to nearby family and visiting the mountains and beaches.
People have to start being innovative with the ways they are going to travel from now on unless prices suddenly decline. One thing that was all over the news is that American Airlines will begin to charge domestic economy-class passengers a whooping $15 each way for the first bag that you check and $25 for each successive bag.
This all starts on June 15th. American Airlines is also going to cut domestic flights as well as lay off some of its workers as it struggles with the high cost of fuel. Whether the other airlines will follow suit remains to be seen.
Years ago, gas was only a minor cost of a road trip. I can fondly remember driving down to Florida from Ohio and not thinking at all about the gas. Now, however, we are talking about real money, something that is a huge chunk of the budget of either an extended vacation or even a weekend getaway.
Gas prices are not the only things that have gone shooting through the roof. Airfares are up by approximately 8% over last year. Hotel and motel rates have seen increases as have the rates for car rentals. When all of this is combined with an uncertainty about the economy, many people will be driven to cut back, but they will still strike out on an adventure.
Despite the spike in airfares, international travel looks like it will increase by 2.6% this summer. This information came by way of an AAA survey. Due to the weak American dollar, Europe will not be a favorite haven for Americans this year while India and Asia are in. The Olympics which will be held in August in Beijing, China, are driving those trends due to the fact that the dollar will buy you more.
These trends are more than likely to continue through the summer. Another survey that was taken by AAA on travelers summer plans found that people are still planning to take vacations, but they expect to take either shorter or fewer trips due to the rising travel costs.
A travel website recently surveyed 4,000 people all over the world, the results showed that 51% of American travelers are making changes to their summer vacation itineraries due to soaring fuel prices. It was found in this survey that 73% will take driving trips. However, 37% will be taking fewer road trips and 18% will definitely be driving shorter distances.
Don't get the blues thinking about soaring gas prices and air fares. If you are still bitten by the traveling bug, you just have to think of more creative and innovative ways to do your traveling.
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