‘Going to make it happen;’ More and more people traveling this season despite rising travel costs

Summer vacations are right around the corner, with Memorial Day weekend marking the unofficial start of the travel season.

As reported at 5:30 p.m., even though inflation and costs remain higher than we’ve seen in years people are still booking trips.

Leanne and her family are used to filling up the tank and hitting the road for summer vacations, but this year they are staying put.

“We just have family here so we stay here and don’t travel,” Leanne said.

But that is not the trend they are seeing at AAA Dayton South. Vacation bookings are up, including a 30% increase in Regional trips.

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“We’re hearing a lot of people saying, you know, it’s been several years since we’ve gotten out of the house and this is the year we’re going to make it happen,” AAA Dayton South Store Manager Richard Embry said. “We’re seeing a lot of people checking off bucket list of places they want to go.”

Bucket lists usually come with a hefty price tag but to Bankrate, more than one in three people who are planning a summer vacation are willing to take on additional credit card debt to pay for the trip.

On the flip side, more than 60% of those who are not planning a trip say affordability is the main reason why.

“A lot of our customers are saying they’re going to worry about paying it or they’re going to worry about the credit side after the trip but they’re so focused right now on wanting to get out and get away and visit new places that they wanted to go or experience new places,” Embry said.

Embry also added that AAA has seen a big increase in the amount of people in the area looking for trips within about 300 miles of the Miami Valley, but spending has not tapered off.