More traveling closer to home over holiday

Even though they won’t be going far, 3.1 million Southern California residents will travel out of town this Memorial Day weekend, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

“They’re traveling closer to home…. Historically San Diego had the No. 2 or 3 destination, and this year it’s No. 1,” Auto Club spokeswoman Maxine Montgomery said. “I think the reason would be it’s not a four-hour drive, it’s a two-hour drive, and people go, ‘OK, that’s going to be half as much gas as Vegas so maybe that’ll be more affordable.”

The average price of gas per gallon was $3.41 Wednesday, down about 7 cents from what people paid May 8. But don’t feel too bad, the gas prices in California were the second most expensive, with Chicago taking that lead since a refinery was damaged this week, Montgomery said.

“It does seem to be impacting people’s decisions, but they’re still going someplace,” Montgomery said.

The number of travelers the Auto Club anticipates will take to the freeway, highways and runways is up about 1.6% from the holiday weekend last year.

More than 2.5 million of those folks will be driving to their destination, according to the club.

Although it’s not as busy as the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Memorial Day weekend signals the start of the busy summer traveling season.

Airport officials suggest getting to the airport two hours before a flight in order to have ample time to park, get through security and reach the gate in time for the flight.

“Parking can be a concern when the travel season is here, so we do encourage people to try to get to the airport using other means of transportation whenever they can,” airport spokeswoman Rachel Gibson said.

Newport Beach Travel Store agent Ryan Dandy said he’s been booking trips to Mexico, Hawaii and Napa Valley.

“Most of the resorts out there are booked up, but for a lot of the local folk, a lot of people are heading out to their favorite local resort like Palm Springs and Las Vegas,” Dandy said.

Travelers who are flexible on when they leave should avoid leaving Friday, unless they are planning to leave very early, Montgomery said. The busiest days on the road will probably be Friday and Monday. At the airport, the busy return day will be Tuesday, Gibson said.

1. San Diego

2. Las Vegas

3. Grand Canyon

4. Central Coast

5. San Francisco

* According to the Automobile Club of Southern California