Despite Gas Costs, Millions Leave Town
Travelers were packing airports, rail lines and roadways Friday as the Memorial Day weekend got under way, contending with crowds and high gas costs in order to mark the traditional start of the summer travel season.
An estimated 38 million Americans plan to travel this holiday weekend, according to the American Automobile Association. That's nearly 2 percent more than last year.
High gas prices may force some to pinch pennies, but they won't stay home, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.
With gasoline prices so high, and airfares slightly down, 3 percent more people, or 4.5 million, will fly this Memorial Day weekend compared to last year, reports Cordes.
"It's actually cheaper right now, especially if you're going more than 300 or 400 miles, to take an airplane than it is to drive a car," says airline industry analyst Darryl Jenkins.
More than 1.4 million passengers were expected to pour into the New York City area's three major airports between Friday and Tuesday, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports.
Close to 2 million holiday travelers this weekend will also travel by train or bus. Another 32 million will go by car, despite gas prices that reached a record national high when the average nationwide price of self-serve regular gasoline hit $3.18 earlier this week, according to the Lundberg Survey.
"Families will travel closer to home, and they may travel fewer days and try to save money by staying in less expensive hotels," Jeanenne Diefendorf of Orbitz Travel Insider told CBS News.
But some costs are down, reports Cordes.
"If you're renting a car this weekend, expect to pay an average of $31 a day; that's actually $6 dollars less than last year," she said. "If you're hitting the skies, airfares are down an average of 5 percent."
Travelers "are going online to do more trip planning, and they're going to bargain destinations, booking cruise deals, and using new technology to get their travel information faster and easier," said Sandra Hughes of the Federal Aviation Administration.
About 3.4 million vehicles were expected to churn through the Port Authority's four bridges and two tunnels, which link various parts of New York City to New Jersey.
Although a gallon of regular gasoline was averaging about $3.30 in New York City, neighboring New Jersey was the only state where the average prices was below $3.00.
Gas prices are driving an increasing number of car owners to downsize, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts. Since 2004, the sale of large SUVs has dropped nearly 17 percent, going from 71,000 sold in April 2004 to just over 59,000 last month. For compact cars it's just the opposite: an increase of 12 percent. In April of 2004, 209,242 compact cars were sold compared to 234,802 last month.
Perhaps most telling, sales of hybrid vehicles, which run on a combination of gasoline and electricity, have jumped 300 percent, from nearly 6,832 in April of 2004 to more than 27,349 last month.
People are also planning to drive less, says AAA New York spokesman Robert Sinclair.
"People are still driving, but there are definite concessions being made," said Sinclair. "They're planning to the nth degree how much gas they'll use."
Kevin Gilmartin, for one, is gauging the breaking point.
"A couple more gas hikes, and we'll start taking the train," said Gilmartin, 42, a Westchester County construction worker.
"We will be going on vacation this summer, but with the price of gas, I can guarantee you I won't have a good time," one traveler told Nathan Hager of CBS radio affiliate WTOP.