BATON ROUGE — Millions of Americans are packing up and heading out of town for the long holiday weekend. Despite high gas prices right now, AAA is projecting a record 45 million Americans will travel for Memorial Day Weekend, up about 200,000 from last year.
“The bulk of those will be traveling by car. It’s still the preferred mode of transportation, typically less expensive,” said Don Redman, AAA Public Affairs Specialist. “39 million people will be in their vehicles traveling at least 50 miles or more for the holiday.”
Redman says gas prices alone don’t determine whether or not people will travel, but rather how they feel about their personal economy. “Many of these trips were planned in advance, prior to the war with Iran,” he explained. “Even though we’re about $1.30 a gallon higher than we were this time last year, they already baked in their plans and are going to go with it.”
“Statewide, we’re looking at prices around $4 a gallon. If they continue into the summer and into the fall, that’s when I think you’ll really start seeing significant changes in driving behavior in terms of how they travel,” Redman said.
“Our next big segment will be those who are actually flying,” Redman said. “It’s a modest increase over last year, about 3.7 million people will be flying for the holiday. So expect the crowd at airports.”
Getting out of town
AAA many drivers will hit the road on Thursday, May 21. “That’s going to be the launch of the holiday,” Redman said. “Though a lot is going to depend on school being out and when school ends. But we have seen typically that Thursday and Friday will be big travel days.”
The biggest piece of advice is to head out early. “We recommend that if you’re driving or even going to the airport that you head out early, because once you get past the ten and eleven o’clock hour, and certainly by noon, then you’re really into thick of things,” Redman continued. “If you can, leave your home even earlier. I’m talking very early, anywhere between six to eight o’clock in the morning.”
Some of the most popular destinations for Louisiana AAA members this holiday weekend include Florida, Tennessee, Houston, and Atlanta. “Really anywhere in Florida, but particularly Orlando, and even Miami for cruises,” Redman said. “Tennessee, places like Pigeon Forge, and some of those areas people have rental cabins and condos that they rent. Branson, MO is another popular destination for us and then the old standbys that we have, Houston and Atlanta, continue to be very popular.”
Before you leave, Redman suggests making sure your vehicle is ready to hit the road. “We strongly encourage you to spend 20 minutes on your vehicle,” he said. “Make sure you have good tires. Make sure they’re properly inflated. Don’t forget your spare tire, because 70% of us forget about our spare tire.”
“Make sure you have proper fluid levels. Check your oil levels, transmission levels, your radiator fluid, all those things,” he continued. “And the other big call AAA receives other than flat tires is for dead batteries. Your car battery will have a sticker on it showing the age. If it’s at least three years old or older. You want to get it, you want to get a checked.”
“We encourage you to have water, because regardless of where you’re going, we’re expecting some warm temperatures, and it could be 45 minutes from now before help arrives,” he said.
Staying in the state
Another trend this Memorial Day weekend is opting for outside. “Historically, we have found that state parks get a workout when times get a little tougher financially. People will spend more time at state campgrounds,” Redman explained.
Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser told UWK that Louisiana’s state parks are one of his top picks for people planning a ‘staycation.’ “Absolutely get out and see a state park. This is the year of outdoors in Louisiana,” Nungesser said. “We’ve got the number two mountain bike trail in the country at Bogue Chitto. We’ve got trails for little kids to professionals. We’ve got horseback riding there. We’ve put new sand on the beaches at our parks.”
Nunugesser had a few other staycation recommendations for people looking to stay close to home. “Swamp tours are always popular. If you haven’t taken a tour of the Atchafalaya Basin, you’re missing out,” he said. “We have World Heritage Site, Poverty Point, up in the northeast corner. It has such history up there. Plus we’ve got some incredible museums.”
“And then, of course, every town has a special restaurant or place to visit, to shop,” Nungesser continued. “That’s what makes us incredibly different from other states. We have the main streets and historical districts that have some unique shops, great music places.”
Cruise popularity boom
According to AAA, the other popular modes of transportation this holiday weekend are trains, buses, and cruise ships.
Read more: Gulf Coast rail service is back and exceeding expectations
“Cruises right now extremely popular, especially for our AAA members wanting to take an Alaskan cruise,” Redman said. “So these are cruises they booked earlier, in November and December, and they’re now coming into a fruition, beginning now through the summer.”
This uptick in cruise popularity has more people flying north before they board ships. “You might see more people heading to a domestic destination like Seattle, because that’s where they’re launching to get into their Alaskan cruises. And sometimes even British Columbia, Canada.” He explained. “Caribbean cruises are popular right now too, but as we get into the later part of summer the Caribbean Cruises start dying down a little bit just because of the concerns of hurricanes.”
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