• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • Honda Takes Wraps Off New All-Electric Prologue
  • Mercedes to Offer True Self-Driving in Late 2023
  • Biden Meets UAW Picketers, Offers Support
  • Ford Halts $3.5B MI Battery Plant; Fain Slams Company
  • An Electric Acura NSX Could Be Coming
  • Jeep Culture is a Real Thing
  • Porsche Cars North America Gets a New CEO
  • Canadian Union Approves New Contract with Ford
  • The Rearview Mirror: Birth of a Legendary Design
  • UAW Ups Pressure, Expands Strikes to Parts Depots
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQB 250+
    • A Week With: 2024 Mazda CX-90 Turbo S Premium Plus
    • A Week With: 2024 Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV
    • A Week With: The 2024 BMW i7 xDrive60
    • A Week With: 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Toyota Camry XSE Hybrid
    • A Week With: 2024 Subaru Impreza RS
    • A Week With: 2023 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Desert Boss
    • First Drive: 2024 Polestar 2
    • A Week With: 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 4Matic
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > Spring Breakers Even More Likely to Drive to Destination in 2021

        Spring Breakers Even More Likely to Drive to Destination in 2021

        Driving is always higher, but this year the gap is wider.

        Jim Stickford , Contributing Editor
        March 26, 2021
        With the warmer weather coming, Americans are making spring break travel plans. More than usual, those trips will be in a car rather than a plane.

        Americans like to travel when the weather gets warmer, just look at annual spring break pilgrimages. But this year it looks different — it appears people will be driving more and flying less.

        At least that’s what Cars.com suggests. The website released the results of a recent survey that looked at people’s potential travel plans and what modes of transportation they were thinking of using. One conclusion was that thanks to ever-increasing COVID vaccination rates, warm weather travel is more of a possibility in 2021.

        The survey also showed that driving is a more popular choice than in pre-COVID years. For spring break in 2021, nearly 3 in 5 respondents (57%) surveyed indicated plans to travel to destinations at least 50 miles from home.

        That’s on par with levels before the COVID-19 pandemic — 54% of the same group said they’d traveled for spring break in 2019 — and far ahead of spring break travel at the outset of the pandemic, with just 32% of the group indicating such excursions in 2020, said Kelsey Mays, assistant manager editor at Cars.com.

        Driving versus flying

        The percentage of spring breakers driving instead of flying has declined each of the last three years.

        What is different in 2021 is that people will be driving more than flying, Mays said. Just 1 in 4 spring break travelers plan to fly to their destinations this year, down from 38% before the pandemic (2019) and 30% at the outset of widespread outbreaks (2020).

        Seven in 10 spring break travelers indicated plans to drive to their destinations this year, up from 63% in 2020 and 57% in 2019. These numbers come at a time when health authorities are still cautioning against any sort of travel, Mays said.

        Since early February, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has maintained explicit guidance that Americans delay travel and stay home to protect against the spread of COVID-19.

        Mays said that of respondents who said they don’t plan to travel for spring break, 3 in 5 said the coronavirus drove that decision.

        COVID concerns

        Even among the majority who still plan to travel, pandemic concerns weighed large.

        More than half (53%) indicated moderate or high concerns around COVID exposure during their trip, even as nearly a third of the group (29%) indicated higher comfort levels now that vaccinations are underway.

        Concerns about COVID-19 are cutting into the numbers of people flying for their trips.

        By the CDC’s count, roughly 16% of Americans have received at least one vaccine dose as of March 1 (two of the three leading vaccines approved by U.S. regulators require two doses, spaced a few weeks apart).

        That’s still a long way off from so-called herd immunity needed to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, which health officials reportedly peg at a 75% vaccination rate.

        More of the same

        Mays said looking at all the information gathered by the Cars.com survey led to one conclusion — travel plans are up, but driving has been a much more popular option than before the COVID pandemic. He said there might be a couple of reasons for this preference. First, driving could be considered safer.

        “In your car, you’re traveling in your own private bubble,” Mays said. “If people plan right and minimize interactions with others, this greatly reduces the chance of infection.”

        Seven in 10 spring break travelers indicated plans to drive to their destinations this year, up from 63% in 2020.

        Flying, on the other hand, requires a lot of interactions with strangers and there’s not much people can do about that, Mays said. Despite this, he does expect people to fly more as things get better.

        “Having said that, this driving more to travel might have some legs,” Mays said. “But I do believe flying rates will increase as vaccination rates get better. The question is by how much?”

        Mays said he had no hard numbers to back up that notion, but there are a couple of things to consider. First, during the past few years Cars.com has seen more people making their first car purchases. When first-time car owners get their vehicles, they tend to want to drive more.

        The second thing to consider will be the cost of flying. Airlines might not reduce the price of tickets because they have to make up for a lot of profits lost during COVID.

        So as the cost of one form of travel is high, other forms of travel become more attractive, Mays said.

        But the bottom line is that as the weather warms up, people will want to travel more, and cars could come out as a more attractive alternative.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        2024 Honda Prologue debut w:exec

        Honda Takes Wraps Off New All-Electric Prologue

        Today

        Mercedes to Offer True Self-Driving in Late 2023

        Yesterday
        Biden speaks to UAW with bullhorn

        Biden Meets UAW Picketers, Offers Support

        Sept. 26, 2023

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: