Money is tight for summer vacations

May 05, 2008 | Online Travel

According to a survey from AOL Travel and Zogby International, 57% of Americans feel they have less money to spend this year on summer vacations than they did in 2007 and are looking at ways to save on their travel costs.

To save money, 33% of Americans are planning to stay with friends/family for lodging while 37% plan to drive rather than fly. Twenty percent of those surveyed are planning a vacation rental instead of a hotel this summer. These are just some of the many findings from a new interactive survey of Americans ages 18 and older that uncovers how Americans are planning to travel this summer.

“Due to the challenging economic outlook, rising fuel prices and the declining U.S. dollar abroad, money is tight for some and our survey shows that one-third of Americans are in fact changing how they travel just to save on costs,” said Jim Kovarik, GM of AOL Travel. “Despite this, Americans won’t forgo their summer vacations.�

Other top-line survey findings include:

Will Fuel Prices and Terrorism Affect Travel?

The survey found that increases in fuel prices and threats of terrorism are not affecting travel plans. Sixty nine percent of those surveyed said fuel prices will not influence where they plan to vacation and 79% said terrorism is not a concern. Additionally, 53% of Americans are planning week-long or longer vacations and 60% of those surveyed are planning to travel to destinations that are more than six hours from their homes.

Summer �Hot Spots�

Sixty-six percent of Americans said they plan to stay in the U.S. this summer while 46% plan to utilize their vacations to visit family and friends. For Americans planning to take trips overseas, 10% plan to travel to Europe, 19% plan to travel internationally to destinations other than Europe and 12% plan to take a cruise. Additionally, 56% of those surveyed plan to return to a destination they have visited before and more than 67% do not plan to make the beach their primary summer vacation destination or include an amusement park in their plans.

Travel Resources

Ninety-six percent of Americans that have booked travel deals via the Internet found that they were actually legitimate, not scams. Additionally, 51% of those surveyed plan to book all of their summer vacation plans on the Internet but 42% prefer to speak with a real person when booking summer travel. Finally, 48% of Americans said they are influenced by Internet user reviews of where to go and that these reviews play a role in helping them decide where they will stay.

The full survey results can be found at AOL Travel. AOL Travel offers the quickest way to discount airline tickets, great hotel rates, affordable car rentals and discount cruises. AOL Travel can help with finding travel deals whether you need a complete vacation package or to research a destination.

Survey Methodology

Interviewing for the AOL Travel-Zogby International survey was conducted among a national sample of 6,678 adults ages 18 and older. Interviews were conducted February 15, 2008 through February 18, 2008. Members of the online Internet panel were recruited by Zogby. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.