Fuel Prices change Travel Plans for Grandparents and Grandchildren

Grandparents with designs on visiting their grandchildren over the Memorial Day weekend or throughout the summer might have to adjust their travel plans.

The skyrocketing cost of fuel is affecting drivers and fliers alike, forcing travelers to shorten their trips or cancel them altogether.

According to Rand McNally’s Great American Road Trip Survey, two out of three adults in the U.S. who plan to take a road trip this summer say gas prices — now averaging $3.80 a gallon nationwide as of May 21, according to AAA — have forced them to change their travel plans. Some 57 percent say they still plan to travel, but will now take a shorter trip, either in time or distance, and 10 percent say they have cancelled planned trips.

The Travel Industry Association (TIA), in a survey jointly conducted with Ypartnership, an Orlando, Fla.-based travel consultancy, found that 59 percent of Americans currently planning a drive trip will not change their travel plans despite rising gas prices, with 41 percent saying if gas prices rise further they would simply drive a shorter distance to vacation.

“The data confirm, once again, that vacations are a non-negotiable part of contemporary life, even in challenging economic times,” said Peter Yesawich, Ypartnership’s chairman and chief executive officer.

That might be true, but the operative word there is "challenging."

“We're really in kind of tenuous territory,” Suzanne Cook, TIA's senior vice president of research, told the Associated Press.

The Travel Price Index, as posted on TIA’s website, shows that virtually all travel-related expenses are up from last year, including gasoline (up 21.1percent from a year ago), lodging (up 0.8 percent), air fares (up 10.1 percent), and food and beverage (up 4.1percent). The figures are April of this year, as compared to April of 2007.

AAA is predicting a 1 percent decline in drive trips of 50 miles or more over this Memorial Day weekend as compared to last year’s three-day holiday weekend.

“It's the first time in more than a decade we've seen the number go down," AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom told USA Today.

But it might not be any better going from the driveway to the skyway. Fees associated with flying the friendly skies are also going up because of fuel prices. American Airlines announced that it will begin charging $15 for the first checked bag starting June 15. The nation’s largest airline joined its peers last month in charging $25 for a second checked bag, but it is believed to be the only domestic air carrier now charging for a first checked bag.