Cashing in on the eclipse

With millions of people expected to flock to sites across 14 states in the band of totality to witness Monday’s solar eclipse, businesses and individuals from coast to coast are looking to cash in on an eclipse payday.

Hotel bookings have skyrocketed, forcing eclipse goers to look elsewhere for lodging. And in many places, they’ll pay a premium.

In southern Illinois, house rentals are going for as much as $5,000 a night. Even outside the prime viewing area, rentals are expected to reach four figures.

Misty Urdaneta owns a wedding business in Salem, about 45 miles south of Effingham. After hearing rumors that nearby vacancies were costing travelers as much as $2,000 a night, Urdaneta decided to list her house on the airbnb website for $1,200.

“We had people calling us to see if we would rent it, so then we called some of the local hotels,” Urdaneta told the Effingham, Illinois Daily News. “Usually they are $60 a night in Salem, but they were $300 a night and there weren’t any rooms for Saturday, Monday or Tuesday.”

Along with a shortage of rooms, eclipse glasses have become hard to find. Wal-Mart in Effingham got a small supply Friday morning. They didn’t last long.

“They were gone in about an hour,” said manager Bob Lakin. “We had some on order, but I don’t think they produced as many as they thought they were going to sell.”

Lakin wasn’t sure if any more glasses would be available before Monday.

Some businesses have been running popular eclipse-related promotions. The owner of the Pizza Man restaurant in Effingham, Greg Addis, started giving out eclipse glasses with the purchase of a large pizza on Tuesday. Customers had gobbled them up by Friday afternoon.

“We ran completely out of them,” Addis said.

As of Friday afternoon, Urdaneta’s $1,200-a-night house hadn’t been reserved, though she said two families from Chicago had come close to booking it.

“I told them I couldn’t guarantee they’d get to Carbondale unless they left in the middle of the night,” explained Urdaneta, citing concerns about road congestion on I-57. “We’ll be able to see it here but they were wanting to travel to Carbondale.”

Urdaneta plans to stay at home during the eclipse. She figures a near-total eclipse is close enough.

“I’m not going to Carbondale,” she said. “I’ll probably just stand in the front yard and look up.”

Details for this story were reported by the Effingham, Illinois Daily News.

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