In this unstable economy, it's no surprise that Americans are taking fewer summer vacations: A recent poll by the Associated Press/GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media found that more than half of the 1,000 Americans surveyed weren't planning a summer vacation, and a third have canceled a summer trip this year because of financial concerns. And those who are traveling are so worried about their jobs and their depleted retirement savings that they're often not content to accept the first offer they see.
"Everybody's looking for a good deal," said Annie dellaPenna, who owns Touraine Travel in Boston. "Even the wealthy."
And there are deals to be had. The cost of lodging and airfare was down 6.8 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of this year compared with last year, according to the US Travel Association, a Washington, D.C., trade group. And Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, which tracks airfare, said prices to Spain, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom are at 10-year lows this summer, with tickets that normally sell for $1,000 going for between $550 and $600.
"If you're taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe, this is absolutely the year to do it," Seaney said.
But many vacationers are skipping their dream vacations this year and making more frugal plans: driving instead of flying, staying at more modest hotels, and reducing their time away. In fact, with gas prices well below what they were a year ago, AAA Southern New England is projecting a 1.5 percent increase in road trips nationwide this Memorial Day weekend - with an 8.5 percent increase in New England. Air travel, on the other hand, is expected to go down 7 percent this summer compared with last, according to the Air Transport Association of America.
