The K-shaped cost of holiday travel
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The K-shaped cost of holiday travel from Marketplace. I'm Sabri Beneshour, in for David Brancaccio. The holiday travel period is upon us. AAA expects 122 million people will drive or fly somewhere to celebrate. That is far more than in pre-pandemic times. Now, as for how much it will cost to travel, well, there is good news and bad news. Marketplace's Nova Sappho has more. The good news is that the mode of transportation most travelers will use, driving, is cheaper this holiday season.
What are the holiday travel trends for 2023?
That's thanks to lower gas prices. AAA says the national average is below $3 a gallon for regular unleaded. That's the first time it's been that low in four years. The bad news is that a lot of other travel costs are higher. Car rentals are up 1%. Hotel stays are up 13%. If you're flying this holiday season, you're likely paying more as well. Domestic fares are up 7%. That's because more people are flying and airlines have pricing advantage. Airlines for America expects demand to grow 1.5% compared to a year ago, totaling nearly 3 million passengers a day. The group says airlines have added more seats to accommodate. Overall, consumers appear undeterred by higher prices. The consulting firm PwC says discretionary spending for the fourth quarter of this year is likely to be up more than 3% compared to last year.
I'm Novosafo for Marketplace. One of the most famous names in American whiskey, Jim Beam, says it's going to stop production at its main distillery for all of 2026. The firm's been making bourbon whiskey in Kentucky for more than 200 years and says it'll take the opportunity to invest in site enhancements. The BBC's business reporter Gideon Long has more. The decision by Jim Beam to pause production at its main distillery comes as Kentucky's $9 billion bourbon industry grapples with a glut of whiskey and a slump in demand at home. Jim Beam says bottling and warehousing in Clermont will still be operating next year and that distilling will continue at the firm's smaller Booker Noe distillery in Boston, Kentucky.
Whiskey and spirit makers across the US are facing higher costs more broadly as a result of retaliatory tariffs from the trade war sparked by Donald Trump. Trade tensions between the US and Canada have impacted sales of alcohol, with most Canadian provinces boycotting American spirits earlier this year.
How are gas prices affecting holiday travel costs?
For Marketplace, I'm Gideon Long from the BBC World Service.
The growth of traffic at retail sites that comes from artificial intelligence, so AI helping people shop, is kind of insane. Adobe reports AI traffic to retail sites is up 5% to 800% over last year. According to e-marketing firm OmniSend, 8 in 10 consumers will use AI in their holiday shopping this year for everything from coming up with gift ideas and writing gift messages to planning and budgeting. Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman reports. Honestly, I'm a total Luddite when it comes to AI. I'd never used it until I had to do this story. So I logged on to chat GPT and typed, I want to find a gift for my elderly mother. She's 87, hard of hearing, and can't see very well. We ran the answers through some vocalization software for you.
Tell me whether she lives alone or in care, what she currently enjoys, music, radio, conversation, etc. I answered, she's in a senior living facility with caregivers. She can't read anymore, but enjoys TV, music, and talking to her grandchildren. And we were off to the races. Here are some specific ideas that tend to work well for someone in your mom's situation. Simple music audio book player. Recorded family voices message player. Comfort item for TV time. A very soft throw blanket. Perfect. She keeps the thermostat at 80 and is still always cold. Chat GPT asked my budget.
What increases are we seeing in car rentals and hotel stays?
I said 50 bucks. A TV blanket under $50 is very doable, and it's a good, low-stress choice. Nice, the bot's looking out for my holiday shopping mental health. But when I tried to actually buy the blanket via ChatGPT, it said, You can't purchase anything directly here on this chat interface. You will need to go to Amazon.com to search and buy.
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