Should you fly or drive this vacation season? Liz Crenshaw helps you figure it out. Plus $2.99 gas for the next three years. All you have to do is buy the car. Liz has details.

Wendy/Jim...are you going to fly or drive? Tens of thousands of vacationers will have to make that decision this summer.

So the folks at Washington Consumers' Checkbook have come up with a few tips to help you figure out if flying beats driving or vice versa when it comes to your vacation dollars.

First, estimate how much you'll spend on gas. The magazine suggests the website FuelCostCalculator.com can help you figure that out.

Next, add in tolls and the cost of meals and lodging if it's a long trip.

And then, consider the mileage-related depreciation on your car for driving. That means if your vacation adds a thousand miles to your odometer, what's the cost?

You can check that out at KBB.com the Kelly Blue Book website by seeing how much a thousand more miles depreciates your car.

Compare those numbers to airline ticket costs and you'll have the answer. It's a tad complicated by it may be worth your vacation money to do the math.

So what are you going to do with your tax rebate?

The government rebate checks are in the mail, and the hope is that taxpayers will start shopping with them. But USA Today says there's a difference between what taxpayers say they'll do and what they really do with the money.

23 % of consumers say they'll put the money in savings. 21% say they'll pay credit card bills. 6.5% percent say they'll make a car payment. And 5% will spend it on home repair. But with the 2001 rebate checks...small stuff ruled. For instance - Movie expenditures jumped 64-percent - Computer sales jumped 40-percent - Drugstore sales jumped 33-percent - And book sales jumped 29-percent.

The government is sending out 117-billion dollars in rebates between now and mid-July. Retailers are hoping for a repeat of 2001.

And finally, $2.99-cent gas. Sounds pretty good? And all you have to do is buy the car.

Chrysler says it will give car buyers a gas card that locks in the price of gas at $2.99 a gallon for three years as part of its "Let's Refuel America" promotion. However restrictions apply. The locked-in price is computed on the new car's mileage, and is limited to the first 12,000 miles each year..

Experts say Chrysler's move could signal a ramping up of incentives by car makers.