NEWS from AAA Oklahoma, Aug. 29 2007 – AAA estimates 399,000 Oklahomans will travel 50 miles or more from home over Labor Day, 0.5 percent more than the number who traveled last Labor Day.

Nationwide, AAA projects 34.6 million Americans will travel over this year’s three-day holiday, a 0.2 percent increase compared to one year ago. However, AAA notes that Labor Day travel has been sluggish since 2005 and that 0.2 percent boost is lower than the overall increase in the U.S. population.

“Many Americans are facing household budget constraints this summer, which may be affecting total travel numbers,” said Chuck Mai, spokesman for AAA Oklahoma. “The downtown in the housing market isn’t helping, either. Plus, school has already started and lots of families are telling us they’re reluctant to make their children miss class to create more than a three-day holiday weekend.”

According to AAA Oklahoma travel counselors, most Oklahomans are not canceling previously planned trips. However, they’re not planning to travel more than they did last year, especially with the recent upturn in gasoline prices.

The statewide price for self-serve regular gasoline is now averaging $2.84 per gallon in Oklahoma, down about three cents from a month ago but 13 cents higher than one year ago.

Nationwide, gas is averaging $2.76 per gallon, 13 cents below the average one month ago and eight cents lower than the $2.84 recorded a year ago. Current daily gasoline price averages can be found at http://www.aaafuelgaugereport.com/.

Approximately 84 percent of all holiday travel nationally will be by motor vehicle, 12 percent by air and 4 percent by train, bus or other mode.

Although airlines have been enduring a considerable amount of negative press recently regarding service and flight delays, air travel over Labor Day nationwide will be up by 2.5 percent over last year, AAA says.

In Oklahoma, AAA predicts the number of air travelers will increase this year by four percent over last year to 20,750 passengers. The number of Oklahomans traveling by motor vehicle over Labor Day is expected to fall by 0.2 percent to 376,350. Another 1,900 Oklahomans will travel by other means, primarily bus, even with last year.

AAA’s Leisure Travel Index shows vacation costs remaining steady from this time last year. Hotel rates have increased, averaging three percent higher for a moderately-priced hotel room for the 20 top destinations used in the comparison. Average air fares have remained constant, and rental cars have dropped an average of three percent from last year.

Two AAA Web sites can provide valuable information to travelers as they plan their trips. AAA’s Fuel Cost Calculator (http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/) provides total gasoline costs for a particular journey by factoring in the make and model of vehicle being driven, the actual route chosen and current fuel costs.

AAA’s online travel-booking site, http://www.aaa.com/, offers daily hotel rates and reservation services. In fact, according to a June survey, http://www.aaa.com/ provided Web site visitors with the best rates 64 percent of the time, compared to five of the top online travel agencies in North America.

Research for holiday travel is based on a national telephone survey of 1,950 adults by the Travel Industry Association of America, which does special research for AAA