Some 40.3 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home during the long Fourth of July weekend - the highest total ever for a holiday weekend, according to AAA Oklahoma.
About 33.9 million Americans, or 84 percent, will travel by motor vehicle, a 2.6 percent increase from the 33.1 million who took to the roads last July 4. Another 4.6 million plan to travel by airplane, up 4.2 percent from a year ago. A projected 1.8 million Americans will reach destinations by train, bus or other mode of transportation.
“This will not only be the most heavily traveled Fourth of July ever, but we expect the weekend will actually put more vacationers on the road than even the ‘granddaddy’ of holiday travel weekends - Thanksgiving,” said AAA Oklahoma spokesman Chuck Mai. “Higher prices for gasoline and increased competition for hotel rooms this holiday will do little to reduce Americans’ desire to travel. Look for busy beaches, packed parks and crowded campgrounds.”
AAA estimates nearly 14 percent of Oklahomans will be traveling over the fourth, slightly more than last year. Of these, 89 percent, or 430,000 Oklahomans, will get there by motor vehicle, the rest, 53,000, by air.
More: examiner-enterprise.com
Related Travel Information
More Americans will travel this Fourth of July holiday than have ever traveled for a holiday weekend, according to AAA's holiday travel forecast. AAA estimates that 40.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this holiday, a 2.8 percent increase from the 39.2 million who traveled last year.
Approximately 33.9 million travelers (84 percent of all holiday travelers) expect to go by motor vehicle, a 2.6 percent increase from the 33.1 million who drove a year ago.
Another 4.6 million (11 percent of holiday travelers) plan to travel by airplane, up 4.2 percent from the 4.4 million
Travel officials say that this Memorial Day holiday is the busiest travel weekend in years.
The surge in holiday travel is taken as a sign that Americans may be getting over the fears prompted by 9/11. Experts say that a record number of people are traveling, most of them by air.
Passengers appear to be taking advantage of the ticket prices offered by airlines completing with low-fare carriers.
The holiday is not the only reason so many people are traveling. Many are heading to graduation ceremonies and racing events. Passengers appear to be taking advantage of the ticket prices offered by airlines completing
The Fourth of July weekend is expected to bring out the traveler in the normal American with tens of millions of them choosing to travel in what promises to be the busiest three-day travel weekend in recent history.
It seems that people have chosen to ignore the recent hikes in fuel prices. The American Automobile Association, AAA, says that almost 40.3 million Americans are expected to travel this weekend. This is better than the 39.4 million travelers who left their homes for the Fourth of July holiday last year.
Sandra Guile, the public relations coordinator at the AAA said that higher gasoline
Maybe if you drive long and far enough this weekend, you’ll forget about those unnerving gas prices.
Or you could quit dreaming.
Although many residents will be reminded of those record-high prices as they travel this holiday weekend to families’ homes and trips to area lakes or campgrounds, gas frenzy is not expected to keep people off the roads.
Travel forecasters, on the contrary, expect this July Fourth weekend to be the busiest ever on the state’s freeway system.
The reason? A strong economy and pleasant weather - which is expected - are much more telling factors for travel than prices at the pumps,
Some 40.3 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles or more from home during the long Fourth of July weekend — the highest ever for a holiday weekend, according to AAA.
About 33.9 million Americans, or 84 percent, will travel by motor vehicle, a 2.6 percent increase from the 33.1 million who drove a year ago. Another 4.6 million will travel by airplane and 1.8 million by train, bus or other means.
“This will not only be the most heavily-traveled Fourth of July ever, but this long weekend will actually put more American vacationers on the road than even the granddaddy