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Holiday travel will be popular for many Americans

Airports are generally the busiest places in the last few days of December with millions of travelers flying to their destinations for the holiday season. This year will be no different.
AAA projects that nearly 99 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles by car or plane during the holiday season of 2014. This number is up 4 percent from last year’s 94.8 million and is the most travelers since AAA began keeping records back in 2001.
Lately, the world is seeing the lowest gas prices in five years and people are spurring longer road trips. Nine out of every 10 travelers will be traveling by car this holiday season.
In an article by USA Today, Garrett Townsend of AAA said, “At one time it was a decision between flying and driving, but  people are just opting to drive their cars because the gas prices are so low,”.
According to Fox News, gas has dropped below $56 a barrel. Gas prices are the lowest since 2009. This means that drivers no longer have to worry about paying $100 to fill up their tank.
The calendar also will boost holiday travel this holiday season. Both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Thursday, making long weekend getaways possible for travelers. Many businesses are also giving their workers Dec. 26 a paid day off.
According to Airlines for America, the busiest day for air travel will be Friday, Dec. 19, when many schools get out for the holiday break. The days with the fewest travelers include Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. On these days, travels have reached their destination and are meeting with their friends and family to celebrate the holidays at home.
According to The Weather Channel, travelers will have to pay attention to the weather over the next few days. Any snow, ice or rain could disrupt and dampen travel plans for the holidays. The weather looks to be quite active, including a pair of storms during the Christmas holiday across the lower 48 states. Some people are looking forward to traveling and seeing snow.
On Christmas Day, many Americans may have a white Christmas. Snow may continue to fall around the Great Lakes from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Lower Michigan to northeast Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania, western, central and Upstate New York. This may make traveling to these places difficult with possible delays at the airports.
On the other hand, visitors to Florida Gulf Coast University can expect to see mostly sunny skies with a brisk low of 48 F.

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