AAA forecasts a small decline in the number of Americans traveling during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Approximately 41 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home, a decrease of 600,000 travelers (1.4 percent) from last year’s total of 41.6 million. This is the first decline in Thanksgiving holiday travel since 2002 and is the fourth consecutive travel holiday this year with a year-to-year decline in the number of travelers.

“The overall state of the economy continues to present real challenges for some Americans looking to travel,” said Gail Weinholzer, public affairs director, AAA Minnesota/Iowa. “However, the desire to spend time with family, combined with significantly lower gasoline prices than earlier this year, will provide a strong impetus for many Americans to travel this holiday season.”

More than 33.2 million Americans (81 percent of all holiday travelers) expect to travel by automobile, a 1.2 percent decrease from the 33.6 million people who drove a year ago.

Nearly 4.54 million (11 percent) plan to travel by airplane, a 7.2 percent decrease from the 4.89 million travelers who flew last year. Approximately 3.26 million Americans (eight percent) intend to travel by train, bus or other mode of transportation - an increase of 5.8 percent (or 180,000 travelers) when compared to the 3.08 million who traveled by a mode other than automobile or airplane last year.

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According to AAA’s Leisure Travel Index (LTI), which is based on available rates, Thanksgiving travelers will pay more for airfares and car rentals this year. Air passengers can expect airfares eight percent higher than last year. In addition, most airlines continue to charge fees for checked baggage and other previously complimentary services like beverages and snacks.

For daily gas prices in all 50 states and more than 250 localities for all grades of gasoline, visit the AAA Fuel Gauge Report Web site (www.aaafuelgaugereport.com [2]).