AAA: Thanksgiving travel to inch up

• Advocate business staff
• Published: Nov 19, 2009 - UPDATED: 1:30 p.m.

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Travel organization AAA forecasts a 1.4 percent increase in Thanksgiving travel this year compared to 2008’s holiday weekend.

The average spending will be $718 and the average distance traveled will be 815 miles for the 38.4 million Americans expected to travel more than an hour or more from home this Thanksgiving, AAA said.

Though auto travel will rise 2.2 percent, flights for Thanksgiving will fall 6.7 percent to 2.3 million, AAA projected, which would continue a trend seen throughout the decade.

In 2008, Thanksgiving travel fell 25 percent in the wake of the financial and housing crisis but is expected to rebound with rising consumer confidence, AAA said.