The solar eclipse, which will cast a visible shadow across the United States on Monday, is already having a noticeable impact on hotel prices.
The Super 8 hotel chain is considered a budget option for travelers and has more than 1,400 locations in the United States. Super 8's website says about 300 of those items are within reach, and 100 of them were sold out on Sunday or Monday.
Of the Super 8s within 40 miles of the overall central route, about 45 percent of those that still had rooms listed at more than twice their normal price. One of his Super 8 properties in Grayville, Ill., advertised him $949 a night for a stay from Sunday to Tuesday. The usually advertised nightly rate is $95.
Representatives from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Super 8's parent company, said each Super 8 is an independently operated franchise that sets its own rates, but all franchise owners have revenue management that they can use to set their pricing strategy. He said he could access the software.
More expensive hotels in big cities are also rising in price. The Ritz-Carlton in Dallas is currently offering a two-night stay from Sunday to Tuesday for $7,600. After one week, the price for two nights will be $1,329.
Data for the map was created by comparing the lowest non-member prices for stays April 7-9 with the same Sunday-Tuesday period one week earlier and one week later.
Even the Super 8 Hotel in Glendale, Ariz., site of Monday's men's NCAA basketball tournament finals, won't exceed eclipse prices. Multiple Super 8 stores near Augusta, Ga., home of the Masters Golf Tournament starting next week, are either sold out or have prices well above average, which explains the dots on the map near the Augusta area.
Thelma Diller, who works at a Super 8 in Malvern, Arkansas, said she plans to come to her hotel on Monday to “hopefully” see the eclipse. She said the hotel sold out almost a year ago. “I've been working here for about 20 years,” she said. “That's very unusual.”