More of us will be traveling for the holiday

Grandma needs a bigger turkey this year.

More than 2 million Illinois residents will travel for Thanksgiving this year.

In fact, estimates from a report compiled by AAA and IHS Global project that 12 percent more Illinois residents will travel in the coming days for the holiday than last year at this time.

After years of decline, the number of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving is expected to significantly increase. More than 42 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles for Thanksgiving, up 11.4 percent from last year. Illinois travelers make up 2.25 million of the expected nationwide holiday travelers.

“While the double-digit increase is significant, we should note we're not out of the woods yet,” said Beth Mosher, a spokeswoman for AAA. “The increase this year represents less than half the volume lost between 2007 and 2009.”

The high-water mark for Thanksgiving travel came in 2005 when 58.6 million Americans made holiday treks.

Mosher said 94 percent of the travelers nationwide will go by car. In Illinois, 2.1 million residents will hit the roads, while 87,000 will fly, according to the report.

“Air travel has been on a steady decline,” Mosher said. “In 2005, 85 percent of the travel was done by car. It's easier to put a family of four in a car and get where you're going.”

That's despite an almost 40-cent spike in gas prices per gallon from this time last year. Currently, the average gallon of gas costs $3.06 in the Chicago area, the report stated.

Meanwhile, flight costs are up too.

“Increased fees are certainly having an affect on airlines,” Mosher said.

United Airlines spokesman Mike Trevino said the airline is expecting a larger than normal influx of travelers, but didn't have specific figures on passengers between the peak traveling days of Wednesday through Nov. 28.

The mantra remains the same: Get to the airport early.

“For travel within the U.S., we're recommending customers arrive two hours in advance and for international travel they should arrive two and a half hours before,” Trevino said. “That's an hour more than usual.”

The AAA data shows 1.62 million Americans will be flying for Thanksgiving getaways, up 3.5 percent from last year.

New Transportation Security Administration screening procedures that include full-body scans and full-body pat downs have garnered some negative reviews recently. Mosher said AAA travel agents have not reported significant numbers of flight plan cancellations related to the security procedures.

The average Thanksgiving excursion will amount to 816 round trip miles, according to the report.