Americans expected to hit the road for holiday weekend

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The combination of lower gas prices and substantial discounts on hotel rooms is expected to draw more Americans to the highways during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. It is being predicted by the American Automobile Association (AAA) that at least 32.4 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from their home over the long weekend, which would be a 1.5 percent increase over last year.

“The good news is sharply lower gasoline prices and plentiful travel bargains have Americans feeling better about taking a road trip this summer,” said AAA president and chief executive, Robert Darbelnet, in a recently-released statement.

According to the association, the retail price of gasoline is now $2.26 per gallon, on average, down from its high of $4.11 last July.

The AAA indicated that it did not expect gas prices to rise above $2.50 per gallon nationwide this summer.

Of those in the US heading out over the holiday weekend, 27 million are expected to travel by car, which is around 83 percent of the total number of travelers. Despite a project decrease in airfares of four percent, air travel is expected to drop by another one percent.

Across the country, hotel room rates are averaging 7-12 percent lower than they were during the same weekend last year, running from $104-$142 per night, according to figures released by the AAA. A drop in car rental rates is also expected, with the daily rate averaging $43, as compared with $45 a year ago.

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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