Recession Kills Travel Plans, Spoils Reunions for U.S. Thanksgiving Day

[marmar]

Thanksgiving Day Travel Plans Get Ruined by Recession (Update1)

By Angela Greiling Keane and Mary Schlangenstein


Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Beatriz Menanteau and 11 family members canceled plans to attend a Thanksgiving gathering in Kansas City, Missouri, this week. Two of them spent part of the past year unemployed, and one remains jobless.

“We just said this might not be the best year for this kind of big, family reunion trip,” said Menanteau, a 32-year- old Minneapolis attorney.

The U.S. recession is curbing travel for the Nov. 27 Thanksgiving holiday, the start of a four-day weekend for many Americans. For the first time since 2002, fewer Americans will take to the roads, rails and air to celebrate, according to AAA, the largest U.S. motorist group. About 1.4 percent fewer people expect to travel during the period, and 7.2 percent fewer plan to fly, AAA said.

That’s a reversal from last year, when Thanksgiving travel reached a record even as gasoline prices surged and airfares had their biggest one-month jump. This holiday season, gasoline prices are at the lowest level since February 2005.

“It’s telling us just how much the overall picture has deteriorated,” said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, citing lower consumer confidence, rising unemployment and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s 41 percent drop in the past year.

An expected 41 million people in the U.S. will travel at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home starting tomorrow through Nov. 30, AAA said. Auto travel may decline 1.2 percent, while travelers taking buses and trains may increase 5.8 percent. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&sid=aI4SD0lenOvE&refer=home

[kestrel91316]

1. For the first time in over ten years, I can't go to WI for our family Christmas.

BAD year for my finances, to say the least.