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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Thanksgiving is sometimes called Turkey Day, or T-Day, but the &#8220;T&#8221; could also mean travel due to the many motorists hitting the road for the long holiday weekend.</p><p>AAA Mid-Atlantic predicts this year&#8217;s Thanksgiving holiday travel will break a 12-year record.</p><p>Locally, 56,000 Wilkes-Barre area residents are expected to travel 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving. Nationally, nearly 51 million will take to the roads, rails or skies &#8212; the highest Thanksgiving travel volume since 2005.</p><p>The Thanksgiving holiday weekend travel by Wilkes-Barre area residents represents a 3.5 percent increase over 2016. The Thanksgiving travel period is defined as Wednesday, Nov. 22, to Sunday, Nov. 26.</p><p>&#8220;This Thanksgiving we will see the most Americans carving time out to visit family and friends since 2005,&#8221; said Jana L. Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. &#8220;A strong economy and labor market are generating rising incomes, fueling a strong year for the travel industry, which will continue into the holiday season.&#8221;</p><p>Tidwell said the increase in the number of travelers from the Wilkes-Barre region taking to the roads, air and other modes of transport, mirrors the national trend.</p><p>Carl Beardsley Jr., executive director at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, expects air travel to be busy over the holiday.</p><p>&#8220;I anticipate close to 5,000 passengers to use the airport over Thanksgiving,&#8221; Beardsley said. &#8220;Our projection is there will be a 5.3 percent increase in boardings.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Factoids</strong></p><p>&#8226; <strong>Road</strong><strong> trip ready:</strong> 88.4 percent of Wilkes-Barre travelers &#8212; 49,764 &#8212; will hit the road for the holiday, a 3.4 percent increase over last year.</p><p>&#8226; <strong>Fueling</strong><strong> up:</strong> The average gas price in Wilkes-Barre is currently $2.76 per gallon &#8212; 36 cents higher than Thanksgiving Day 2016 ($2.40 per gallon).</p><p>&#8226; <strong>Fuller</strong> <strong>skies: </strong>More than 4,900 Wilkes-Barre travelers will take to the skies for Thanksgiving, an increase of 5.3 percent compared to 2016.</p><p>Based on historical and recent travel trends for the holiday week, transportation analytics firm INRIX, in collaboration with AAA, predicts drivers will experience the greatest amount of congestion during the early evening &#8212; as early as Tuesday on Thanksgiving week &#8212; as commuters mix with holiday travelers.</p><p>&#8220;Thanksgiving has historically been one of the busiest holidays for road trips, and this year we could see record-level travel delays,&#8221; says Bob Pishue, an analyst at INRIX.</p><p><strong>Prices</strong></p><p>&#8226; Average airfares for the top 40 domestic flight routes will be 23 percent cheaper this year, with an average round-trip ticket at $157.</p><p>&#8226; Car-rental daily rates will hit a five-year holiday high at $70 per day &#8212; 34 percent higher than 2016 and the highest rate since 2013 &#8212; due to an increase in domestic demand and cost of newer vehicles.</p><p>&#8226; AAA Three Diamond Rated hotel rates have increased 14 percent this year to an average nightly rate of $176. Conversely, the average rate for a AAA Two Diamond Rated hotel has decreased 5 percent to an average nightly rate of $117.</p><p>&#8226; AAA expects to rescue more than 330,000 motorists this Thanksgiving weekend, with the primary reasons being lockouts, flat tires and battery-related issues. </p><p>&#8226; Last Thanksgiving (Nov. 23 &#8211; 27), AAA Mid-Atlantic rescued more than 23,700 motorists throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.</p><p>For more: Download the free AAA Mobile app or go to AAA.com/mobile.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

AAA: Record Thanksgiving travel expected locally and nationally