Hitting the road this holiday weekend? AAA says around four percent more people will travel 50 miles or more from home around the Thanksgiving holiday. That equals 42.5 million Americans, the first significant travel increase so far for 2011. AAA says the average distance traveled by Americans during the Thanksgiving holiday this year is expected to be 706 miles. That’s down from an average of 816 miles in 2010. Median spending is expected to be $554, which is a 12 percent increase from $495 last year. Wondering what to expect on the roads and in the skies? Here is a Thanksgiving travel breakdown according to AAA:
Traveling By Car
Around nine in ten Thanksgiving travelers will be getting to their destination by automobile. That’s 38.2 million people hitting the roadways, a four percent increase from 2010. This is still the mode of transportation of choice mainly because it’s the most affordable, convenient and flexible. Gas is about 50 cents higher per gallon than it was a year ago though. But it’s 60 cents less than it was at its 2011 peak.
Traveling By Air
Leisure travelers number 3.4 million on Thanksgiving, which is a 1.8 percent increase over 2010 according to AAA. Fuel costs, demand and capacity cuts mean air travel is experiencing a price increase. Airfare over Thanksgiving weekend will cost on average about 20 percent more than it did a year ago. The average lowest round trip rate for the top 40 US routes is $212.
Traveling Other Ways
Just over 900,000 people are expected to use other modes of transportation which includes bus, trains, and watercraft. These modes of transportation have experienced sharp declines since 2008 and haven’t bounced back.
Tags: US routes, consumer comfort surveys, air travel, Children and Youth, food
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