Holiday travel down, but deals are hard to find
By: John Upton
Examiner Staff Writer
December 19, 2008
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| Although travel is down due to the recession, vacations in cold regions are still the only deals to be found. (Getty Images) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Fancy downing some rum in the Caribbean during the holiday season? Perhaps you’d prefer to visit your elderly aunt in Miami, where she’s soaking up the sun in temperatures approaching the 80s. Or, maybe the beaches of similarly warm Cancun are more your thing.
Unless you’ve already booked your trip or have cash to burn, forget about it.
Despite the recession, cheap holiday flights and travel deals to most balmy destinations are difficult to find, San Francisco travel agents say, although some value can be found in trips to a handful of warm international destinations, such as Peru and Australia.
Don’t despair, agents say, there are still flights and vacation packages available at inexpensive rates to fun but frigid destinations such as Boston, Vancouver and the California ski slopes.
“There are a lot of good deals to be had,” said Vanita Louie, who has owned 1 Stop Travel on Bush Street for 28 years. “But the warm, sunny places are still very expensive.”
Louie suggested alternative plans.
“Some eastern [seaboard] cities, such as Boston, New York and Canada, you can get there for $300 round trip. ... Ski destinations and Colorado are also very affordable,” she said.
Travelers are cutting back on air travel by 9 percent this recession-plagued holiday season, but planes remain full because airlines have cut back on flights, according to James May, president of the Air Transport Association.
“The decline is driven primarily by an extremely fragile economy and falling global demand for travel,” May said in a statement.
An average of 2 million Americans will clamber aboard planes each day during the holidays, with the busiest days falling today and Dec. 27, according to May.
About 1.8 million people are expected to pass through San Francisco International Airport during the holiday period, down from
1.9 million last year, according to airport spokesman Michael McCarron.
Although the number of travelers this holiday period is expected to fall for the first time since 2002, the number of trips planned aboard trains and buses has increased by about 6 percent compared with last year, according to American Automobile Association spokeswoman Cynthia Harris.
“It’s cheaper than driving for many people,” she said.
The cheapest plan could involve staying home and taking advantage of free San Francisco day-trip destinations, such as Golden Gate Park, beaches and Presidio National Park, suggested San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau spokeswoman Tanya Houseman.
Planes, trains and automobiles
The anticipated number of travelers, and method, expected during the holidays.
8.6 million Californians planning to travel more than 50 miles from home during the holidays
7.2 million Californians planning to travel by car (1.5 percent one-year decline)
1 million Californians planning to travel by plane (6.7 percent one-year decline)
280,000 Californians planning to travel by bus, train or boat (6.4 percent one-year rise)
Source: AAA
