NEW YORK – A record number of people are expected to travel this holiday season thanks to a strong economy leading to more travelers in the skies and on the roads.
Christine Aluisy will be flying from Florida to New Jersey for Christmas, “visiting family, going to Atlantic City.”
According to a new report from AAA, she is one of a record 112 million people traveling more than 50 miles this holiday season.
“That is the highest travel volume for [the] end of [the] year that we have been tracking since 2001,” said Tamra Johnson with AAA.
She added it’s the seventh straight year that travel between December 22 and January 1 is reaching a new high.
We really are attributing the increase to the strength of the economy. We see consumer spending is strong and unemployment is low,” Johnson said.
Some 102 million drivers will be on the road this year — up 4% from last year — fueled by falling gas prices.
Meanwhile, nearly 7 million people will be flying, which is also up 4% from 2017.
“A lot more of my friends were talking about staying home and staycations last year and this year everyone is talking about where they are going and what they are doing,” Carrie Morrison said.
AAA says the busiest days to fly will be on December 22, December 23 and December 26.
“Lots of people, lots of folks with lots of kids, and a lot of people who don’t travel often,” traveler Teresa Henderson said.
Dan Cook says he isn’t worried about the crowds, “a couple hours at the airport, who cares? You are going to have a lot of time over the holidays to enjoy food, family and friends.”
As always flying during the holiday means higher prices with the average cost for a ticket on the busiest days sitting at nearly $600 roundtrip.
AAA Triple-a suggests that in order to make the most of holiday drivers check the weather before they head out and have an emergency kit in the car.
Flyers should check for delays before they leave home and arrive at least two hours early to the airport
-Hilary Lane reporting for CBS News
