By Steven Erbacher
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— Thanksgiving break has several significance meanings for the students at the University of Arkansas.
First, it’s the longest break from classes during the Fall semester, starting next Wednesday, November 27 and lasting through the Sunday starting December.
The reality of the semester coming to a close starts to set in when Thanksgiving hits, as there are only two weeks of classes following the break.
There’s a large population of students on campus who are not from the Northwest Arkansas area. Their trips home and back for the holiday have proven to be tough on the wallet.
“For my trip home, I stop twice to get gas,” said Lizzy Lankford, a junior at the University of Arkansas who goes home to Houston for the holidays. “It costs me upwards of $80.”
That’s just one-way. So, when she makes that trip back to campus, she’s . spending about $160 just for gas. That number, not counting snacks she might have during the 18 hours on the road.
Listing out the pros and cons of traveling by road or by flight, she said she chooses to fly for the Thanksgiving break. It’s a more expensive choice, especially for this holiday week, as prices for flights skyrocket due to high demand.
When visiting a traveling website to book a round trip flight from XNA (Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport) to Houston for tomorrow, Nov. 20, you can find prices around $500. If booking for next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, the prices tend to be north of $700.
Lankford said she chooses to fly because the break of Thanksgiving is too short to justify spending a great amount of time for driving. She stressed how important it is to make traveling plans plenty ahead of time.
“Planning ahead makes it so much easier,” she said. “I love being able to have it down in my planner and it gives me time to save up the money for the trip.”
Lankford booked her round trip flights for Thanksgiving back in August. She said she spent around $500.