High gas prices not slowing down millions traveling this week for Spring Break

ATLANTA — With 4.9 million people expected to pass through Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and millions more driving through town on their way south, this years spring break season for grade school families is going to create some travel headaches.

Statistically speaking, those numbers are very similar to the number of travelers recorded before the pandemic slowed things down in 2020.

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Channel 2′s Christian Jennings spoke to the Aberli family from Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday. The Aberlis were heading to Destin on Florida’s Gulf Coast. They stopped for a night in Atlanta on the way so they could check out Georgia Tech’s campus for their son, Gunner. They said the nearly $4 a gallon cost of gas was not going to keep them from enjoying the week off.

“We missed our normal trip in 2020, but we got to go back last year,” Tom Aberli said. “We’re excited to be around crowds again and get a sense of normalcy.”

“I have one friend that because of gas prices, they are not driving down,” said Bunner Aberli. “They are staying home. But other than that, most people are still heading out.”

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Garrett Townsend is with AAA. He told Jennings that it is a safe bet to expect heavy traffic on the roads and in the airports this weekend, and the following weekend when those heading out for spring break begin returning home.

“They are not going to let the higher prices deter them,” Townsend said. “They might dial back on some certain activities or perhaps not splurge as much on dining or perhaps they stay one less day.”

Townsend said AAA recently finished a survey that showed roughly 85% of the people they talked to said they were ready to start traveling again.

“Look, it’s been since March or April of 2019, three years since people have had a traditional spring break. So we don’t believe the higher prices at the pump are going to deter them,” said Townsend.

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Local businesses feel the effects of inflation as prices continue to increase for goods Local businesses feel the effects of inflation as prices continue to increase for goods

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