Across the country, the number of Americans who will be traveling by air or by land this holiday season appears to be up, statistics released by AAA Idaho this week indicate.
According to AAA estimates, 64.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this holiday season. This is a 2.2 percent increase over last year, when 63.5 million Americans were doing the same.
Driving the increase are hotel rates, airfares and gas prices that have risen just slightly from this time last year, AAA reported. Numbers of travelers might have seen less growth had there been more inflation of travel costs.
The travel organization said this year's holiday will see healthy growth in traveler numbers, following a period of relatively flat travel earlier this year.
"Lower, more stable gas prices are a welcome relief for holiday travelers after facing $3 gasoline just a few months ago," AAA Idaho spokesman Dave Carlson said.
Despite the recent drop in gas prices, Carlson said Idahoans are still paying 30 cents more for a gallon of gasoline than they were a year ago. Furthermore, he said the average price for the year is about 50 cents higher than in 2005.
In terms of modes of travel, approximately 52.6 million U.S. travelers—or 81 percent of all holiday travelers—expect to go by motor vehicle, a 2.1 percent increase from the 51.5 million who drove a year ago.
Based on the projections of a nationwide survey, AAA expects 275,800 Idahoans will be drivers or passengers in motor vehicles traveling 50 miles or more during the Christmas-New Year's holiday period. That compares to about 267,000 Idahoans who hit the roads a year ago.
Two-thirds of those traveling expect to stay at a friend or relative's home, while those staying at hotels or motels constitute a distant second at just 19.7 percent, AAA reported.
"This holiday brings families together in home settings like no other," Carlson said.
Nationwide, holiday travelers will find gas prices averaging $2.29 for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline, up 7 cents during the last month, and 12 cents higher than a year ago. Idaho's $2.37 average price is relatively unchanged in the past month, but 29 cents higher than the $2.08 average price last Christmas, AAA said.
Travelers across southern Idaho in places such as the Wood River Valley can expect a mixture of winter weather during the coming Christmas weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
For Hailey, the National Weather Service on Thursday was calling for partly sunny skies with a chance of snow showers and total snow accumulation of between 2 and 4 inches for today, Dec. 22. For Saturday, the National Weather Service is calling for mostly sunny skies with a slight chance of snow showers in the afternoon and a chance later in the evening.
Between Sunday and Tuesday, the National Weather Service was calling for mostly cloudy skies with a slight chance of snow showers.
