Chicago is My Home

27
May

AAA Report: High Fuel Prices, Airline Tickets Affect Holiday Weekend Travel

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Travel

CHICAGO – With skyrocketing gas prices and increasingly expensive airline tickets, travelers found there were few cheap transportation options over the holiday weekend.

Drivers in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs paid well in excess of $4 a gallon for gasoline, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA) fuel tracker. The national average at the pump hovered at $3.93.

While the U.S. Department of Energy has not yet released data detailing fuel demand over Memorial Day weekend, experts anticipate it will show that road travel was down during the traditionally busy three-day stretch.

Air travelers also faced heightened costs as UAL Corp.’s United Airlines hiked prices by as much as $60 on Thursday to combat record fuel prices. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines quickly followed suit by announcing their own fare increases on Friday.

By Megan O’Neil