 Has the Current Economic Climate Changed the Face Of Holiday Travel?
By Jack Etzel
To find out more about how the condition of the economy is
affecting this year’s travel plans, we sought out a Wexford resident
who has been with AAA for more than 30 years. Jim Lehman, AAA senior
vice president, oversees the Automotive Services, Branch Operations,
Human Resources, Information Technology, Retail Services and Travel
Services departments. North Hills Monthly Magazine: Jim, we know
that December is traditionally one of the top travel months of the
year. Considering the economy, how is 2008 going to finish? Jim
Lehman: We anticipate that holiday and vacation travel will be down
because of the economy. What we’re seeing is what we call a ‘shorter
booking window.’ Typically, the holiday traveling period is one of
those times that people know they need to book well in advance in
order to get the best fares and best booking opportunities. But with
the economic cloud that hit us in late summer continuing, we see a lot
of people who seem to be deferring this year and making their
decisions about traveling at the last minute. NHMM: The price of
gasoline must figure into that downturn, right? Lehman: That’s a big
consideration. But if gasoline continues to be reasonably priced, and
I can’t believe we’re saying that $2-plus is reasonably priced, there
will likely be an uptick in the number of people driving locally and
regionally. Some will be replacing that cruise with a getaway weekend
at Nemacolin or something of that nature, or traveling what we call
VFR—visiting friends and relatives. We’re going to see more people
doing that, or having their own house guests coming to visit this year
for the holiday season, than you would typically find. NHMM: But if
those friends or relatives live in another part of the country and
would normally fly, that could still put a crimp in many a traditional
visit. Lehman: Right. Putting car travel aside, the other
interesting thing we’re going to see this month compared to other
years is this: people who are traveling by air, whether they’re
visiting relatives or going on a cruise, going to a resort or
traveling to another destination, are going to find that there are
significantly fewer seats available to buy. That’s because the high
crude oil prices for the first half of this year caused all of the
major airlines to reduce their capacities and cut back on the number
of flights that they operate. What we’re going to find this holiday
season is that there will be about 3,000 fewer flights a day than
there were last year. So even though the economy is soft, we’re going
to find on the other side of that, airline seats could be scarce,
simply because there will be so many less of them. NHMM: If and when
you get to where you’re flying, what about rental car fees? Lehman:
Rental car charges are up a little bit. In fact, both rental cars and
hotel fees are up when compared to a year ago. But they are not up
significantly, so I don’t think anyone would make a decision to travel
or not to travel based on the price change in rental cars or hotel
increases from last year to this year. NHMM: Why aren’t more people
traveling by Amtrak? Lehman: Actually, they are. Amtrak ridership is
up dramatically this year on the whole. The situation we have locally
is that we have very limited Amtrak service out of Pittsburgh. You can
go to Philadelphia and New York, but that’s about it. Going beyond
those points you get into layovers and the timing of trains, and
unfortunately they don’t always match up. From a nationwide standpoint
Amtrak is alive and well, but not so much here. If you’re flying to
another part of the country, you can mix it with Amtrak. For example,
say you’re flying to Los Angeles, but you also want to visit San
Francisco. Instead of flying, take Amtrak, save money, enjoy the view
from the train, then fly back from San Francisco for the same
round-trip price. NHMM: Is there anything that comes to mind that is
actually positive news, or is that asking too much? Lehman: Yes,
there’s a possibility that there may be some specials out there, and
that’s especially true the closer we get to the holidays. Because
travel will be a little slower than usual, you might find that a
company like Hertz, for example, that operates a lot of community
offices and not just airport offices, might run specials to grab hold
of folks like you and me. From an economy standpoint, some folks might
not want to drive their own cars, depending on where gas prices end
up. Or maybe they’ve put off buying a new car this year because of
what’s been going on in the financial market. They might rather rent a
nice, new car from a rental agency and drive it for a few days on
vacation or to visit family somewhere over the holidays, and that
could be a nice way to do it. This holiday season, however you
choose to travel over the river and through the woods,
North Hills Monthly wishes you a safe and enjoyable journey! |
