AAA: Gas prices expected to fuel holiday travel this Thanksgiving

AAA NORTHEAST said 48.7 million travelers are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home during the Thanksgiving holiday period from Nov. 23 to Nov. 27. / COURTESY AAA NORTHEAST
AAA NORTHEAST said 48.7 million travelers are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home during the Thanksgiving holiday period from Nov. 23 to Nov. 27. / COURTESY AAA NORTHEAST

PROVIDENCE – More than 2.1 million New Englanders are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home during the Thanksgiving holiday period, a 2.4 percent increase compared with last year, AAA Northeast said Tuesday.
AAA said the Thanksgiving holiday period begins Wednesday, Nov. 23 and ends Sunday, Nov. 27.
Close to 1.9 million New Englanders are expected to drive to their destinations, a 2.5 percent increase compared with 2015.
AAA said gasoline prices will fuel local travel, adding that U.S. drivers have saved more than $28 billion at the pumps so far this year compared with last year.
Nationwide, 48.7 million Americans, 1.9 percent, or 1 million, more than last year, are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving – the most Thanksgiving travelers since 2007, AAA Northeast said.
The majority – more than 89 percent – of holiday travelers will drive this Thanksgiving, a 1.9 percent increase, while travel by air is expected to rise 1.6 percent, with 7.6 percent taking to the skies.
“One million more Americans than last year will carve out time to visit with family and friends this Thanksgiving,” Lloyd Albert, AAA Northeast senior vice president of public and government affairs, said in a statement. “Most will travel on the tried and true holiday road trip, thanks to gas prices that are holding steady throughout the fall months.”

AAA expects to provide roadside assistance to more than 370,000 motorists over the holiday, due to dead batteries, flat tires and lockouts.
AAA’s Thanksgiving travel projections are based on economic forecasting and research by IHS Global Insight of Colorado.

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