Holiday travel to be 2nd highest in decade

ACCORDING TO AAA, most holiday travelers this year plan to take to the roads, 91 percent, while 6 percent will fly, and 3 percent find other modes of travel: bus, trains, watercraft. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/DAVID PAUL MORRIS
ACCORDING TO AAA, most holiday travelers this year plan to take to the roads, 91 percent, while 6 percent will fly, and 3 percent find other modes of travel: bus, trains, watercraft. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/DAVID PAUL MORRIS

WASHINGTON – If you’re planning on hitting the road over the Christmas-New Year’s holiday this year, you’ll be in good company – 91.9 million people worth of good company.

This year’s AAA travel volume forecast for the 11-day period around Christmas and New Year is the second highest in the past decade.

About 30 percent of the total U.S. population is expected to travel 50 miles or more this year – a 1.4 percent increase from last year.

The 2006-2007 period was the highest volume for the decade, at 93.7 million.

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“It’s a positive sign for the travel industry that so many Americans are planning to travel this holiday season,” said Lloyd P. Albert, AAA Southern New England senior vice president of public and government affairs.

Most plan to take to the roads, 91 percent, while 6 percent will fly, and 3 percent will find other modes of travel: bus, trains, watercraft.

Airfares are expected to be 21 percent higher than last year, AAA said. Its projections are based on research by IHS Global Insight.

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