Traffic moves along I-85 Northbound outside of Atlanta, Georgia, in November. About 48.5 million travelers will drive 50 or more miles away from home this Thanksgiving, nearly 5% more than a year ago. (Photo: Chris Rank/Bloomberg News)
Higher wages and more disposable income trump more expensive gas prices to motivate the most Americans to travel for Thanksgiving since 2005.
About 54.3 million Americans will travel 50 or more miles away from home this Thanksgiving, an increase of 4.8% compared with last year, according to data from AAA, the largest U.S. motoring group.
About 48.5 million travelers will drive, nearly 5% more than a year ago.
Air travel will also see a 5.4% increase.
“Motorists have become accustomed to this year's more expensive gas prices and won't let higher fuel costs deter them from taking Thanksgiving road trips,” said AAA gas price expert Jeanette Casselano.
Regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.735 a gallon Wednesday, 6.9% higher than this time last year, according to AAA.
“Consumers have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season: higher wages, more disposable income and rising levels of household wealth,” said Bill Sutherland, AAA Travel senior vice president. “This is translating into more travelers kicking off the holiday season with a Thanksgiving getaway, building on a positive year for the travel industry.”
All those drivers on the roads will likely lead to more traffic. Global mobility analytics company INRIX predicts travel times in the most congested U.S. cities may be as much as four times longer than normal.
Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
