AAA is predicting that people traveling will fall by 13% this Labor Day holiday compared to last year. The decrease is partly because this year's Labor Day is later than last year. It's also because more people are taking staycations and saving money by staying at home. Bloomberg says more people are also taking shorter trips and seeking out discount airfares and hotels.
Gas Prices Begin Falling. Nationwide Average Under $2.50
The peak of the summer driving season has passed and gas prices are starting to fall again. This should give recession weary consumers some relief. The average price in California has fallen under the $3 mark.
California's average price for a gallon of regular dropped to $2.89 Tuesday, after peaking at $3.03 last month. The national average, which reached $2.69 in June, fell to $2.52 on Tuesday, according to the AAA automotive club.
"Absent any big rise in crude oil prices, we do think we've seen the peak for gas," said Douglas MacIntyre, senior oil market analyst with the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the statistics branch of the Department of Energy.
The nationwide average gas price is around $2.50 according to the AAA. Prices have fallen about 18 cents in the past month.
This continues an incremental but steady downward trend in prices that began earlier this summer. In just a month, the price has fallen roughly 18 cents. This is good news for drivers and an economy still trying to pull out of a deep recession.
The AAA's Fuel Gauge Report currently lists the national average gas price at $2.47.
Gas prices are starting to climb again after months of slowly falling. A Lundberg survey found gas prices climbed 8 cents in the last two weeks to a nationwide average price for $1.86 unleaded gasoline. The low of $1.66 occured five weeks ago according to Lundberg. Lundberg says rising oil prices are the main reason gas prices are climbing again.
"Moderately rising oil prices are the chief reason gasoline prices are up," said Lundberg. "Also, low gasoline prices did their work and have breathed a little life back into gasoline demand."
Lundberg said that for full year 2008, gasoline demand suffered shrinkage of 3.5 percent but that after the five-month price crash, demand's latest decline is just 0.6 percent.
The AAA's Fuel Gauge Report also has the nationwide average gas price up about 20 cents in the last month.
The Wall Street Journalsays the price increase is a delayed reaction to refiners cutting back production late last year.
The AAA has announced the 2009 AAA Five Diamond Award winners. Ten establishments have been added this year for a total of 103 hotels and 59 restaurants with Five Diamond status, the AAA's highest rating for hotels and restaurants. AAA Five Diamond Award winners make up just 0.28 percent of the 58,000 Diamond Rated lodgings and restaurants throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
The six hotels were added to the list for 2009 are:
The AAA also noted that the The Inn at Little Washington Dining Room in Washington, Virginia is the only restaurant to maintain Five Diamond status for 21 consecutive years - since the Diamond Ratings were first applied to restaurants. That certainly sounds worth checking out. You can read more about the AAA's Five Diamond rating here.
The AAA has announced the 2009 AAA Five Diamond Award winners. Ten establishments have been added this year for a total of 103 hotels and 59 restaurants with Five Diamond status, the AAA's highest rating for hotels and restaurants. AAA Five Diamond Award winners make up just 0.28 percent of the 58,000 Diamond Rated lodgings and restaurants throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
