CINCINNATI — Despite high gas prices, a record 42 million Americans are expected to travel by car for the holiday weekend, according to AAA.
While travel is up, a local AAA retail manager says travelers are reconsidering their destinations and how far they’re going.
“It's definitely a factor that people are considering when they're planning a trip and where they're going to go,” Jamie Johnson said. “It's a much bigger factor than we've had in a long time.”
Many travel costs are up across the board. Nightly rates at hotels are up $30 from last year and domestic flights are roughly $80 more expensive, according to data from travel application Hopper. The number of people choosing to fly has dropped this year, according to AAA. The company cited flight cancellations across the country in the recent weeks, which are partially due to staffing shortages and weather.
Milford resident Lori Ponath is heading to Florida this weekend, and she's opting to drive instead of fly to avoid the possibility of a cancellation.
“My car is a hybrid, so we're going to take my car to cut down on the gas," Ponath said. "So we figured it'd be about two and a half tanks, the gas and two people splitting it so it's not as hard on the wallet and that should be cheaper than flying.”
For those hitting the road this weekend, you can use this tool from the U.S. Department of Energy to plan out your road trip and figure out how much gas will cost you. You can also use this WCPO tool to find the cheapest gas prices in your area.
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