Holiday travel among Americans appears to be up significantly in 2014.
According to auto travel group AAA's 2014-15 year-end holiday travel forecast, 98.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from their home during the holiday season, which is defined as Dec. 23 through Jan. 4.
That figure marks a four percent increase over 2013.
What's more, the impressive figure signals the highest growth rate since 2009 and highest travel volume on record dating back to 2001.
Roughly 90 percent of those travelers will drive to their destinations this winter.
"Tis the season for holiday travel, and this year more Americans will join with friends and family to celebrate the holidays and ring in the New Year than ever before," said Marshall L. Doney, AAA president and chief operating officer in a statement.
"While the economy continues to improve at an uneven pace, it seems more Americans are looking forward with increasing consumer confidence, rather than looking back at the recession. This is helping to drive expected travel volumes to the highest level we have seen for the year-end holidays," he added.
A huge reason for 2014's monumental figure is cheaper gasoline prices. According to AAA, the national average price of gas is the lowest its been in five years and 70 cents lower than it was a year ago.
"Lower gas prices are filling stockings with a little more cash to spend on travel this year as travelers are expected to pay the lowest prices since 2009. Lower prices are increasing disposable income and enabling families to set aside money for travel this year," said Doney.
While gas continues to get cheaper, travelers can expect to pay slightly more than they did last year on hotels and rental cars.
AAA's Leisure Travel Index notes that hotel rates for AAA Three Diamond lodgings are expected to rise four percent from last year, while AAA Two Diamond lodgings rates are estimated ot rise five percent.
Meanwhile, daily rental car rates are projected to be four percent higher than the 2013 year-end holiday.
Travelers taking to the skies this holiday season can expect to save, though, as AAA estimates average discounted round-trip airfares across more than three dozen domestic routes to fall seven percent in 2014. The availability of discounted rates offered by low-cost carriers is the catalyst for the drop.
Perhaps the most worrisome estimate from AAA's holiday travel forecast is the 1.1 million motorists the company plans to assist with vehicle breakdowns over the two-week holiday period.
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