If your plans for Thanksgiving week include a road trip, you can expect plenty of company on the highways. AAA Carolinas projects that 2 million people in North and South Carolina will travel at least 50 miles from home for the holiday. That's an increase of about 2 percent over the number who made driving trips last Thanksgiving.
AAA attributes its the projected travel increase to economic factors including higher wages and increases in consumer spending, along with a boost in consumer confidence.
The anticipated increase in Thanksgiving travel comes despite a small rise in gas prices in the Carolinas from a year ago. AAA says the current average price in North Carolina is $2.13 a gallon, up three cents from last Thanksgiving. The average gas price in South Carolina is $1.99 a gallon, an 8 cent increase from last year .
For air travelers, the company RewardExpert ranks Charlotte-Douglas International as the third-best among major U.S. airports for Thanksgiving on-time performance. That's based on federal Department of Transportation data from the past five years. Charlotte's dominant airline, American, ranks number 6 among ten major carriers for overall on-time performance.
