AAA: Holiday travel to rise 1.6 percent from 2011 - WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports

More than one-quarter of Americans will hit the road over the holidays and gas prices aren't expected to affect that travel volume, according to AAA / IHS Global Insight 2012/13 Year-end Holiday Travel Forecast released this week.

AAA predicts 93.3 million year-end Americans will travel over the holiday travel season, which runs from Dec. 22 to Jan. 1, 2013. That is an increase of 1.6 percent or 91.8 million travelers from last year.

Ninety percent of travelers - 84.4 million - are expected to drive during the holiday travel period, which is 26.7 percent of the total U.S. population, according to AAA's report.

Air travel over the holiday is expected to increase 4.5 percent to 5.6 million travelers from 5.4 million in 2011, according to the report. Air travelers will find lower airfares, according to AAA's Leisure Travel Index.

For the year-end holiday travel period the average lowest round-trip rate is $203 for the top 40 U.S. air routes, that's 3 percent decrease from 2011, according to the report.

Median spending is expected to increase nearly 6 percent to $759, compared to $718 in 2011, and transportation costs will make up 29 cents of every travel dollar, data show.

View the AAA / IHS Global Insight 2012/13 Year-end Holiday Travel Forecast at NewsRoom.AAA.com.

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