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NEWS / FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN KANSAN.COM
TRAVELING ON A BUDGET
Spring break not a reason to go broke
Students choose to drive to destinations
BY ALISON CUMBOW alisonc@kansan.com
alisonc@kansan.com
Chris Woodside, a senior from New Jersey, is used to long car trips. He's driven back and forth between Lawrence and his hometown of Frenchtown, N.J., 10 times since he started school — a trip that takes him about 20 hours. That's why for this spring break, Woodside won't mind the 30-hour, one-way drive to Mexico with his friends.
U. S. college students planning a spring break trip with friends said staving on a budget was their biggest determining factor, according
Hot spot destinations
to a national survey of 1,100 students compiled by OnCampus Research.
Of the students, 44 percent chose an inexpensive destination, 29 percent chose a location they could drive to instead of fly.
and 71 percent said they were paying for the trip with money they earned themselves.
"I don't mind driving." Woodside said. "And I wouldn't have the money for the flight."
"I don't mind driving. And I wouldn't have the money for the flight."
The study found that almost 60 percent of students are staying in the U.S., with 22 percent of students going to Florida — the most popular destination. Only 7 percent will be traveling to Mexico and 2 percent will be traveling to the Caribbean. The survey found that 85 percent of college students polled were cutting back on their spending in some way because of the poor economy.
Woodside said he and his friends are going to Morelia, near Mexico City, to visit a friend he met while studying abroad in Spain last year. Then they will go to Ixtapa, where they are staying at an all-inclusive hotel that costs $800 for four days.
make his trip — many car rental companies don't allow their cars to leave the country — instead, he will be driving his 2007 Saturn Ion, which gets about 26 miles per gallon in the city, and 35 on the highway. It should cost about $200 total to drive one-way, Woodside said.
"We're driving a good-gas-mileage car," he said, "It's 3,200 miles round trip."
Wiles Bobo, branch manager of Hertz Rent-a-Car; 946 E. 23rd St., said he had rented about 10 percent of the Lawrence location's cars to students this year. Although some car rental agencies do not rent to
Woodside isn't renting a car to
CHRIS WOODSIDE New Jersey senior
people younger than 25 years old, Hertz will for $15 extra per day for anyone ages 21 to 24. Accident insurance covers the car up to the full value, which is an extra $19.99 per day. Liability insurance is an
"Percentages have been up," he said. "More people are motor-coaching to save money for longer distances."
Woodside said money wasn't the only reason he made the decision to drive to Mexico. As a senior, he thought it was his last chance for a good, fun spring break.
extra $12.99 per day, and reguita
insurance is $5.95 per day.
Ryan Bowen, a travel agent at Student Universe, a company that caters 95 percent of its business to student travel, said more students reserved motor coaches than flights in comparison to last year. A motor coach is a 55-passenger bus that costs $1,100 per day, so it costs $20 per day, per person. Bowen said he had made thousands of bus reservations for this year's spring break.
Edited by Kelly Gibson
Austin, Texas
HOTEL PICKS
- St. Michael Plaza Hotel, rooms aver age $80.67 per night
- AT&T Hotel & Conference Center at the University of Texas, rooms average $289 per night
- Lakeway Resort and Spa, rooms average $205.67 per night
Source: expedia.com
ATTRACTIONS
■ South by Southwest Week 2010: March 12-21, according to the official website, the SXSW Music and Media Conference showcases hundreds of musical acts from around the globe on over 80 stages in downtown Austin.
DISTANCE ROUNDTRIP
1,401.9 miles
AVERAGE COST FOR GAS ROUND-TRIP
$148.45
Source:gasbuddy.com
Panama City Beach, Fla.
HOTEL PICKS
■ Bay Point Marriott Resort, rooms average $239 per night
- Holiday Inn Select, rooms average $104 per night
Source: expedia.com
- Sleep Inn and Suites, rooms average $119.99 per night
ATTRACTIONS
- March 13-14 Spring Fling Car & Truck Show: according to the event's website, low-slung custom pickups, white sandy beaches, and hot babes are the setting.
DISTANCE 2,000.7 miles
AVERAGE COST FOR GAS ROUNDTRIP $211.21
Source: gasbuddy.com
Las Vegas
HOTEL PICKS
- Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, rooms average $45 per night
- Excalibur Hotel Casino, rooms average $68 per night
Stratosphere Tower - Casino & Resort Hotel, rooms average $62 per night
Source: expedia.com
ATTRACTIONS
■ Las Vegas Night Strip Helicopter Tour, $70
Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam Day Trip, $100
Source: STA Travel
DISTANCE ROUNDTRIP 2,634.5 miles
AVERAGE COST FOR GAS ROUNDTRIP
$296.55
Source: gasbuddy.com
NATIONAL
View an interactive graphic about popular destinations at kansan.com
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Record snowfall could result in flooding near Pittsburgh
SUTERSVILLE, Pa. — Just weeks after dealing with record setting snowfall, residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey are preparing for the possibility of flooding.
A large portion of Pennsylvania and all of New Jersey is under a flood watch, Parts of Ohio, along the Ohio River, are under a watch, too, with the threat of heavy rain
combining with melting snow pack.
A forecast of warm weather and several days of rain will cause deep snow in the mountains to melt, according to the National Weather Service.
Flooding in Pittsburgh could begin Friday night, and the Ohio River in the city is expected to crest about two feet above flood stage on Sunday afternoon.
according to the NWS.
Emergency management officials in the Pittsburgh region had warned of the possibility of major flooding as record-breaking amounts of snow began to thaw. February was the snowiest month in Pittsburgh-area history. River towns south and east of the city are especially vulnerable to snow-melt coming downstream from the mountains.
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prepared if the Youghiogheny River spills over its banks. He says he'll draw on his experience from 1996, when the basement of his century-old home flooded with five feet of water, destroying his
washer and dryer.
The 65-year-old Westerman and his 42-year-old son, Tom, spent part of Thursday removing items from his home in Sutersville, about 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
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Officials say there is more snow in those mountains than there was in 1996, the region's last major snow-related floods.
In western Pennsylvania,
Richard Westerman will be
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