Bring more cash: Economy, holiday costs go up

Memorial Day weekend travelers will need just as much patience and a little more cash this year than last, with roads expected to be at least as crowded, airports expected to be busier, and air fares and gasoline more expensive.

The road and air traffic projections, plus optimism in the leisure industry, indicate an economy that is improving - though by no means recovered.

Here's the outlook:

Traffic: The Port Authority and New York State Department of Transportation expect traffic to be about as busy as last Memorial Day. MTA Bridges and Tunnels wouldn't make a forecast, but except for February, when snowstorms discouraged driving, traffic at its crossings had been rising since September year over year and, in March, was about a half percent ahead of March of last year.

George Gorman, regional director of operations for state parks, says his department expects to be just as busy as last year this weekend, if, as is expected, the weather cooperates.

Hotels: Paul Monte, chief executive of the iconic Gurney's Inn in Montauk and president of Montauk's Chamber of Commerce, said his members, who have a total of about 2,400 hotel rooms, report strong bookings for this weekend. "I'm getting a lot of optimism from people around town," he said.

At the same time, he said, consumers still seem skittish and are waiting longer to make reservations. "They're a little hesitant to pull the trigger on the deal," he said. "They wait until the last minute to do it."

R. Moke McGowan, president of the Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau, says, "The year 2009 was so bad that the increases we're seeing by comparison aren't all that significant."

Restaurants: Keith Davis, who owns Golden Pear Cafes in Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton and Sag Harbor, says business this month is up about 7 percent from a year earlier and he expects more of the same this weekend. "Our projection for the weekend is that it will be very strong," he said.

Mark Smith, who owns four restaurants in the Hamptons, says he expects them to be as packed as last year, but the real proof of a recovery will be if customers spend freely or continue to cut corners by, for example, ordering less expensive wine. "Our spring business has been very good," he said. "Maybe not at 2007 levels, but definitely up over 2009."

The National Picture: A report done for the AAA forecasts that about 32.1 million Americans (up 5.4 percent) will travel 50 miles or more from home this weekend than a year earlier. The report, by international economic consultants IHS Global Insight, says that's still almost 12 million fewer than the peak year, 2005.

Camping: Owner Chuck DeAngelis of DeAngelis Rentals in Sayville, says the 15 motor homes and pop-up trailers he rents are almost entirely booked up for the summer - as they were last year at this time. "We are extremely busy," he said. The RV industry says families on tight budgets often see camping as a way to cut vacation costs. But sales of RVs, said DeAngeles, are "dead" because credit remains tight.

Myron Goldstein, owner of The Eastern Long Island Kampgrounds Inc. in Greenport, says all 186 of his sites are booked for the weekend, as they were last year at this time.

Rental Cars: Rates will be about as high as last year because the companies reduced their fleets when the recession began, says Neil Abrams, a consultant to the auto rental industry who is based in Purchase. "Last year," he said, "rates were through the roof. We don't expect rates to be substantially higher for this year than a year ago, but the bad news is that rates will still be high."

Air fares: Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, an airline ticket shopping website, says prices for Memorial Day holiday travel are up about 20 percent to 30 percent from last year, partly because of peak travel day surcharges. "When people start raising prices across all departure dates, people quit buying them," he said, "so they add the surcharge to the days they know their airplanes are going to be packed." But, he says, prices last year were relatively low.

Airports: The Port Authority expects 1.4 million travelers at the major airports, up 2.4 percent from last year. The authority, which operates Kennedy and LaGuardia as well as Newark airports, says that through March of this year, LaGuardia's passenger traffic was up 7.6 percent from a year earlier, to about 5.1 million. Kennedy's total was down by 1.5 percent to 9.87 million, as a 6.3 percent decline in domestic traffic overwhelmed a 4.2 percent increase in international passengers.

With Keiko Morris