Holiday travel off the back burner, AAA says

More jellied salads and green-bean casseroles will hit the road this Thanksgiving, AAA predicts.

The motorist association's annual Turkey Day travel forecast released Wednesday projects a 1.4 percent overall increase in Americans driving 50 miles or more from home during the holiday period.

That's 38.4 million people this year compared to 37.8 million during Thanksgiving 2008, although numbers of fliers dipped.

The spike in travelers is occurring despite the fact consumers are shelling out more for gas. The average national price of regular gasoline is $2.63 a gallon, more than 50 cents higher than a year ago, AAA reported. In Illinois, a gallon of gas costs around $2.69 a gallon and in Indiana, it's $2.52 this week.

The increase in travel reflects renewed consumer confidence and a healing stock market, AAA officials contend.

The "projected increase in Thanksgiving travel from one year ago is another hopeful sign that economic conditions are stabilizing and improving in some areas," the association's Chicago Regional President Brad Roeber said in a statement.

A year ago, with the economy teetering on the brink and the housing market in crisis, Thanksgiving travel decreased by about 25 percent.

Local statistics outpace national numbers regarding holiday trips. In Illinois, more than 2 million people will head out for the holiday, a bump of 4 percent from 2008.

Across the country, auto travel will be up by 2 percent with 33.2 million folks driving this year compared to 32.5 million Thanksgiving 2008.

While the airline industry organization, the Air Transport Association, predicted a 4 percent decline in people flying over the holiday period, AAA assumes a 6.7 percent reduction, or 2.3 million people in 2009 compared to 2.5 million in 2008.

People jumping on buses, trains, boats or taking other transportation to their turkey destinations will rise to 2.9 million this holiday from 2.8 million last November.

Amtrak is predicting about 125,000 people will travel by rail this Wednesday compared to the 74,000 passengers it carried on an average Wednesday in 2008.

Despite the fewer number of people catching flights, experts advised travelers to stick with the tried-and-true rule of getting to the airport two hours ahead of time.

Travelocity Senior Editor Genevieve Shaw Brown noted that many airlines have reduced capacity, meaning planes will be full. She warned fliers not to assume anything.

"You don't know what parking is going to be like," Shaw Brown said. "You don't know how long the security line is going to be."

Turkey Day travel

The AAA predicts more of us will be hitting the road next week. A look at the numbers:

• 1.4% increase: Americans traveling 50+ miles from home

• 38.4 million: Americans doing so

• Up from 37.8 million a year ago

• 25%: The decrease in travel a year ago

• 2 million+: Number of Illinoisans traveling, up 4%

• 6.7%: AAA's predicted drop in air travel for holiday

• 2.9 million: Number of people traveling by bus, train, boat, etc...

Source: AAA