AAA: Thanksgiving holiday travel highest since 2005
The AAA says Thanksgiving travel this month will be the busiest for 13 years..
The motoring organization predicts about 54.3 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles away from home for the holidays.
It amounts to a 4.8% increase on last year.
Despite high gas prices, it estimates 48.5 million people will travel by car for the Thanksgiving period which the AAA defines as from November 21 through November 25.
Higher wages and lower taxes equals more disposal income to spend on travel, it says.
"This is translating into more travelers kicking off the holiday season with a Thanksgiving getaway, building on a positive year for the travel industry," said Bill Sutherland, SVP of AAA Travel.
About 4.27 million people will travel by air, up 5.4%, and a further 1.48 million people will travel by train, bus or cruise ship.
Mobility analytics company INRIX says roads will start seeing heavy congestion from November 19.
INRIX is advising motorists to avoid traditional commute times and has highlighted exactly where the worst traffic bottlenecks will likely be.
Travelers in Boston, New York City, and San Francisco could face drive times up to four times longer than usual for part of their trip, it says.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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