112.5 million expected to travel this holiday season, AAA says

WASHINGTON (FOX 5) - This holiday travel season is due to be one of the busiest ever. AAA says they predict one in three Americans will be traveling this holiday season.

There are predicted to be a record-breaking 112.5 million travelers taking to the nation's runways, roads and rails for the year-end holidays.

The anticipated number of holiday travelers is a 4.4 percent increase over last year and the most since AAA has been tracking holiday travel.

AAA says most holiday air travelers are departing two or three days before Christmas and will return the day after the holiday.

This holiday season, Saturday, Dec. 22, Sunday, Dec. 23 and Wednesday, Dec. 26 will be the busiest days in the skies and at the airports.

AAA says based on travel plans from the past three years, fewer travelers choose to fly on Christmas Eve (Monday, December 24) and Christmas Day (Tuesday, December 25), which are the lightest travel days around the Christmas holiday.

The organization says they are forecasting that more than one-third of Americans will travel this holiday season.

AAA says they have found that most travelers booked their Christmas flights between October 26 and November 27, paying an average ticket price of $561 roundtrip.

Additionally, those who booked their travel plans last-minute between December 12-18 this year paid the lowest average airfares, at $488. However, those travelers risk encountering limited availability and their preferred flights may already be sold out.