Travel News

Memorial Day Weekend 2012: More Travelers, Shorter Trips

Image Credit: BigStock

Locations in this article:  Chicago, IL Las Vegas, NV San Francisco, CA

Airfares are at a decade high. According to Priceline, the national average airfare is $378.   The increase in airfares has resulted in a 5.5 decrease in air travel in comparison with last year’s AAA study.

Despite the record high fares, there are destinations where the average airfare is down year over last year.

Chicago fares are down 4.4 percent; Las Vegas is down 3.3 percent; New York’s JFK airport has fares down 3.4 percent; San Francisco is also down 3.4 percent.

It’s no surprise that those cities are this year’s top destination. According to studies done by both Priceline and Kayack, the top destination for Memorial Day is Las Vegas,  the same as 2011. According to latest Kayak’s search share analysis, New York is the most popular spot. Priceline users favored Chicago then New York.

For Kayak users, Atlantic City is the third most coveted Memorial Day Weekend destination, up 94 percent from last year where it was only the tenth most popular city.

The overall forecast for summer travel is optimistic. SpringHill Suites Annual Survey reveals that 92 percent of Americans will be spending part of the summer holiday outside of their home.

According to the study, people’s expectations are the same, but their travel patterns have changed. Last minute travel is up: 62 percent of vacationers will book their summer holiday in two months or less.

Of those surveyed, 37 percent will be visiting a new destination this year, 27 percent will hold a family reunion and 23 percent will relax alone. 1 in 10 Americans will take a cruise this summer and 6 percent will attend a sport event.

For more summer travel information, check out:

By Elena Strapkova for Peter Greenberg.com

Feature Image Credit: BigStock