AAA predicts record Thanksgiving week travel, nearly 80 million on the move

[Craig]

AMERICANS ARE GEARING UP FOR THANKSGIVING. THE BUSIEST HOLIDAY FOR
TRAVEL IS ONLY ABOUT A WEEK AWAY. TRIPLE-A CAME OUT WITH ITS PROJECTIONS ON MONDAY MORNING.
THE ASSOCIATION PREDICTS 79.9 MILLION AMERICANS WILL DRIVE, FLY OR TAKE SOME OTHER FORM OF TRANSPORTATION, SUCH AS A BUS OR TRAIN, TO THEIR DESTINATION, MEANING FIFTY MILES OR FARTHER.
THE NEARLY 80-MILLION PROJECTION, WOULD BE A TWO PERCENT INCREASE COMPARED TO LAST YEAR, OR **UP** BY ROUGHLY 1.7 MILLION TRAVELERS FROM 2023. NEW THIS YEAR, TRIPLE-A HAS EXPANDED ITS WINDOW FOR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY TRAVEL. IT NOW GOES FROM NEXT TUESDAY, THROUGH THE MONDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING.
THERE’S GOOD NEWS FOR TRAVELERS — DRIVERS WILL SEE LOWER GAS PRICES. THE NATIONAL AVERAGE IS ON PACE TO HIT SUB-$3 PER GALLON FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2021. TRANSPORTATION EXPERTS SAY THE BEST TIME TO HIT THE ROAD IS THANKSGIVING DAY ITSELF WHEN THE HIGHWAYS ARE LESS CONGESTED. TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON ARE THE WORST TIMES.
HEADING HOME, THE ROADS WILL BE BUSIEST ON THE SUNDAY AFTER THANKGIVING. TRIPLE-A ADVISES DRIVERS TO LEAVE EARLY IN THE MORNING.
THE TSA WILL BE BUSY SCREENING AIRLINE PASSENGERS. TRIPLE-A PREDICTS ABOUT 5.8 MILLION AMERICANS WILL HEAD TO THE AIRPORT OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEK, UP BY ABOUT 100,000 FROM LAST YEAR.
BOOKING DATA SHOWS THE TOP DESTINATIONS TO BE WARM PLACES SUCH AS ORLANDO, LAS VEGAS, AS WELL AS MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS INCLUDING ATLANTA AND LOS ANGELES.
AS FOR THE ALL-IMPORTANT WEATHER CONDITIONS, FORCASTERS THINK COOLER TEMPERATURES, COLD RAIN AND SNOW IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS WILL ARRIVE SUNDAY FOR THE EAST COAST.
THE U-S CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER’S 6-TO-10 DAY OUTLOOK SHOWS CALIFORNIA, THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, MONTANA, NORTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA, NEBRASKA, IOWA, MINNESOTA AND GREAT LAKES STATES, RECEIVING ABOVE-AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. HOWEVER, METEOROLOGISTS WILL KNOW MORE AS THANKSGIVING GETS CLOSER. FOR MORE UNBIASED UPDATES DOWNLOAD THE SAN AP