More Americans Taking Longer Holiday Trips This Year
By: Big 2 News Staff
Updated: December 23, 2011
More Americans are expected to take long trips this holiday
season, and in many parts of the country it looks to be smooth
sailing.
About 92 million people will travel 50 miles or more from Friday
through Jan. 2, an increase of 1.4 percent more than last
year, according to AAA.
The federation of motor clubs said 90 percent will travel by car.
Drivers will find gasoline prices higher than last year,
but well below this year's peaks. Air travel will be down about 10
percent.
When there are problems with air travel today, be it weather,
mechanical issues or computer glitches, they are much worse
than just a few years ago.
Airlines have trimmed the number of flights and are packing
planes fuller than ever before. That means if something goes
wrong, there are fewer options to rebook stranded passengers. There are
just no spare seats.
When large snowstorms hit the busy Northeast last Christmas,
it took airlines as long as a week to get some people home. A similar
passenger nightmare occurred after Hurricane Irene struck in August.
Bad weather also can mean more cancellations
than in the past. A Department of Transportation rule that went into
effect in April 2010 limits planes to three hours
on the tarmac. Airlines that violate it face penalties of up to $27,500
per person - that's more than $3.7 million for just one Boeing 737.
(Copyright: Associated Press)
(Copyright: Associated Press)
