SAN MARCOS, Calif., June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- With gas prices still climbing, West Coast vacationers now will be able to calculate the fuel cost of a trip or getaway with the click of a button. The new FuelTool fuel cost estimator is now available on websites published by Getaway Media Corp, including http://www.californiaweekend.com for California vacationers, and http://www.northwesttraveladvisor.com for visitors to the Pacific Northwest. These sites specialize in getaway travel for their respective regions and now include the FuelTool in the popular "Getaway Machine" travel calculator offered on each site. Similar to a real estate search engine, the Getaway Machine invites visitors to select from more than 65 criteria to help them find the ideal getaway or vacation destination. They select the general type of lodging, amenities, activities and types of sights they would like to see and the Getaway Machine produces a custom report that lists the getaways that offer those particular options. With the new FuelTool, visitors not only will get the one-way distance and travel time to these getaways, but also the approximate fuel cost for the roundtrip to each location on the list of recommended getaways. Visitors can select the general type of vehicle they are driving, put in the approximate amount they are paying per gallon of gasoline, and the FuelTool will do the rest. In a June 2008 article, USA TODAY reported that, because of higher gas prices, travelers this year "want to travel closer to home, take shorter trips and travel in their state or neighboring state," according to AAA spokesman Mike Pina. "We see a big increase in the number of people using online maps and tools such as fuel gauges and calculators," Pina says. The FuelTool also is offered in the "Choose a Destination" section of both sites. Visitors can go to a city they are interested in visiting and choose from a selection of local lodgings, which each have a FuelTool button and link to the lodging's website. CaliforniaWeekend.com, based in San Marcos, CA, was launched in 2003 and was followed by the launch of its sister site, NorthwestTravelAdvisor.com, in 2006. For more information, phone 760-471-7693.
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