AAA predicts fewer Fourth of July travelers

AAA said it expects fewer travelers to take a trip this Fourth of July, as high gasoline prices pinch lower-income households.

The travel club said it expects 39 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more from home during the Independence Day holiday weekend, which stretches from June 30 to July 4. That would be a 2.5% decrease from a year earlier.

“As with the Memorial Day holiday, the rising cost of fuel is having a more significant impact on those with lower household discretionary spends and has shifted the demographics of the typical Independence Day traveler,” said Brent Hubele, vice president of AAA Travel.

The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.626 Tuesday, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report, compared with $2.732 a year earlier.

The percentage of travelers with a household income of $50,000 or less is expected to decrease to 33% from 41% a year earlier, AAA said. The percentage of travelers with a household income of more than $100,000 is expected to increase to 35% from 26%.

Clarke writes for the Orlando Sentinel.