Labor Day Travel

How Many More People Are Traveling in 2012 than 2011?

In total, AAA expects 33 million Americans to travel “at least 50 miles” during Labor Day weekend. This represents roughly 870,000 more travelers than 2011, or a 2.9% increase. In addition to a spike in the number of travelers, those travelers are expected to spend more this year, too. This year’s median expected trip cost is $749, up from $702 last year.

While the overwhelming majority (28.2 million) will opt to drive instead of fly, AAA projects air travel to rise 3.7% (fueled, in part, by a 4% reduction in airfares from 2011). All told, an estimated 2.55 million travelers will fly during the holiday, and another 2.3 million will use buses, rails, or cruise ships.

How Are Travelers Coping with High Gas Prices?

As CNN points out, the nationwide average per-gallon cost of gasoline is 14 cents higher ($3.71 as of Tuesday, August 21) than the same time period in 2011. Yet despite this, gasoline costs “are not expected to have a major negative impact” on the nation’s Labor Day travels. In addition, 66% of those surveyed by AAA said their “current financial outlook” would have no impact on their holiday plans, according to Fox Business.

Instead of foregoing travel, cash-strapped consumers plan to save money by skipping hotels, staying with family or friends, shortening their trips, driving fuel-efficient vehicles, or spending less on recreation during their travels. CNN clocks the average trip length at 626 miles, while noting that 54% of survey respondents plan on trips of 100-400 miles round trip.

Where Are the Most Popular Labor Day Destinations?

Recent data from Kayak.com offers telling insights into the most in-demand travel destinations this Labor Day:

“If you’re planning a flight, Las Vegas, New York, and Chicago are the top flight search destinations for Labor Day. Average clicked fares for travel to these destinations for the holiday weekend were $291, $300 and $254, respectively.”

Meanwhile, Kayak names Atlanta, Las Vegas, and New York as the most popular U.S. hotel destinations “by absolute search share rank, with hotels coming in at $183.74, $275.63, and $204.21, respectively.”

Ireland is the top international destination year-over-year, which, Kayak speculates, is largely due to the Notre Dame vs. Navy football game on September 1, 2012. In addition to Dublin, Paris and London are popular flight search destinations in Europe for Labor Day weekend. Average prices are $1,355.32, $1,071.24, and $1,200, respectively.

For Caribbean and Central American destinations, San Jose, Panama City, and Belize City are the most popular flight searches, with Belize City enjoying a 50% year-over-year increase in search share.

Kayak also points out that travelers can expect to save 8%-10% on average by postponing their travels until after the holiday weekend.

How do you plan to travel and save this Labor Day holiday?

Finding good deals on vacation travel and spots is easier than ever if you use a combination of social media tools and other online help. It pays to know which sites to check out and use for your next trip to save money on flights, car rentals, attractions, and hotels.

Planning Your Vacation with Help from the Net

Planning vacation usually starts off with deciding where to visit. Asking friends and family about areas they visited can be a great resource. If you decide to try something different than where your circle has visited, then casting a wide net can prove to be beneficial.

TripAdvisor has some wonderful information on different destinations. Members of the community leave feedback on hotels, airlines, and restaurants. They also have a feature where you can locate friends on Facebook who can offer personal information about your possible destination.

Lonely Planet has a ton of information on traveling, not just around the country, but the world. If you’re on Facebook, check out their Page; it can guide you to the perfect spot for your next vacation. For those who like to travel internationally, Lonely Planet has some great language guidebooks too.

Google Buzz is another handy tool you can use on the go that can help you plan and get some feedback on your upcoming trip. While you’re checking up on email, you may also want to hop online and check out WikiTravel to get a free travel guide.

Enhancing your Vacation with Social Media

How would you like to find the best deals on parking, dining, and shopping while you’re on vacation? USA Today has a great feature along with Gowalla that allows you to access this content for many U.S. cities. GoWalla, location-based social networking app, also has some user-made tours that you can follow across the country or in a city.

You can also use Twitter as a way to gather and organize some activities for wherever you may decide to go. Check with locals to see if there are any great hole-i- the-wall restaurants you should definitely try. You can also do a Twitter search with your location to see what’s going around town. You may find a free downtown concert or some other interesting events that may catch your attention.

Is part of your vacation a tax write-off? It could be. Use a free mobile application like Evernote to keep track of receipts on the run so you’ll have them to cash in on at tax time.

Your Thoughts on Cheap Vacations

How do you find great deals on vacations? Do you use social media when planning? If so, how? Leave us a comment!

Many people want to take their tax return money and take a vacation. I think this is a great idea. Using extra money for a life experience is A OK in my book. However, you don’t have to spend all of your tax refund on an expensive vacation. You could take a stay-cation instead, and possibly save half of your federal tax refund money for other financial needs (i.e. college savings, emergency fund, retirement, etc.)

When I say stay-cation, I’m not talking about sitting on your couch for a week. Here’s more of what I mean:

Book a Hotel “Downtown” – The prices at many downtown hotels drop dramatically over the weekend. Get out of your ‘burbs and live in the city for a few days. Visit museums, see a fine arts show or concert, eat at the 5 star restaurants. Experience the best of what your own town has to offer.

Rent a Lakehouse or Cabin - If you have a lake nearby, search for a house or cabin to rent. Hop in the car and bring your own food. Do some hiking, biking or fishing with your free time. Or, just relax and read a few books.

Find a Local Bed and Breakfast - Sometimes all we need for a recharge is for someone to make our bed and cook us breakfast. If you’re staying close by, the transportation costs will be low, and you can splurge a bit on a nice place. If you’ve ever wanted to enjoy the experience of staying in a nice, older home, now is your chance.

Visit a Nearby State Park - There are thousands of State parks funded by your tax dollars. Have you ever made use of them? If you’re afraid of the tent camping, look for a park with cabins. Nightly site rentals are very inexpensive.

Hopefully you’ll find an idea in there that you like. Enjoy the experience of your stay-cation and feel good knowing you’ve got some money left over for savings or other financial needs.

First things first, file your taxes! The average tax refund last year was close to $2,700. If you efile and request a direct deposit, you could get your return in as little as eight days. Don’t wait until April 15th if the government owes you money, file today and get your money within a few weeks. It’s your money, you should get it fast. If you have a simple return or you otherwise meet certain income limits, you can even prepare it for free. Don’t put your vacation on your credit card when you could file your return and have it paid for with your own money back!

If you’re looking to go on a trip but haven’t yet picked out a spot, consider a staycation or a “near” staycation. A staycation is an idea popularized last year during the heart of the recession and is still a popular one today, as we slowly pull ourselves out. With unemployment near 10% and everyone looking to save a few extra dollars, a staycation is a great way to see your home town without spending a lot of money. The key to a staycation is to do things you haven’t done before, so you feel like you’re on vacation and somewhere new. A near staycation is where you go someplace nearby for a day trip, say an hour or two drive away. You will be amazed at how many attractions are within an a hour or two of driving that you’ve never seen before.

If you’re a fan of vacations and you have a Bank of America ATM, credit or debit card, try to take advantage of their Museums on Us program. It offers free general admission to participating museums, zoos, science centers, gardens, and other attractions on the first full weekend of each month with your card. Visit the site to see which museums are participating. You might find a new museum you like that you never knew about!

If the staycation route isn’t for you, try looking for discounted last minute deals. Hotels, cruises, and airlines have a perishable commodity on their hands and sometimes they will sell it for less at the last minute. The plane will still take off and the cruise ship will still sail with or without the empty seat or cabin. Selling it is better than not selling it and oftentimes you will find amazing last minute deals if your travel is flexible. I sign up for Travelzoo’s Top 20 email newsletter and get those last minute emails sent directly to my inbox.

Finally, if nothing appeals so you, you can always save the money and wait to go on the trip you want to during its slower season. Put the money in a high yield savings account, earn a little bit of interest risk free, and go when the prices are cheaper. If you want to go to Disney, the slow periods are between Thanksgiving and the week before Christmas, between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, and in January (in that order). Prices are usually a fraction of the high season so your money, which you’ve been diligently saving, will go even further.

I hope some of these tips will help you make the most of your vacation this Spring! (or Fall if you save and wait!)

Jim writes about personal finance and other money issues at Bargaineering.com.