Millions of Americans will travel for the Fourth of July, but the number of travelers is likely to decrease as more travelers can expect to spend more money this year to get to their destination.
Auto club AAA released its predictions for the holiday weekend and said that 40.8 million
Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home over July 4. While this is the biggest travel holidays of the summer, the number reflects a 0.8% decrease in travelers from last year. Yet it's still higher than the average number of Americans who have traveled over the past 13 years at 38.9 million, USA Today reports.
This year, the holiday falls on a Thursday, which could either disrupt travel plans or make for a longer weekend for some, but travel is expected to be lower than in 2012. AAA says that budget cuts by the federal government may also have something to do with the decrease.
"This projection is due to the calendar effect of one fewer day in the holiday period,'' AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet said in a statement, "and economic growth that is not robust enough to offset the impact of the sequester and . . .the end of the payroll tax cut on American families."
Yet of course July 4 will still remain as a big travel holiday as schools are out for the summer. A majority of Americans will travel by car and AAA estimated 34.4 million will hit the roads, but this is a 0.7% decrease from 2012. An additional 3.07 million travelers are expected to fly, which is a slight increase from the number of flyers last year.
AAA says that drivers can expect their trip to cost more as gas prices were up 2 percent on average by mid-June compared to prices last year. Renting a car will also be more pricey at there is a 29 percent increase from 2012 with an average daily rental costing $58.
Flyers won't catch a break either. Airfares are up and the cheapest round trip ticket on the forty most popular domestic routes average $228, which is a 6 percent increase from last year according to AAA.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
