Chrismas and New Year’s expected to see record travel numbers

The upcoming Christmas/New Year’s weekends are expected to make up the busiest-ever travel holiday, with nearly 63-million Americans traveling at least 50 miles from home — up three percent from last year. Triple-A-Iowa spokeswoman Dawn Duffy says that’s great for hotel and restaurant owners, but not so super for the rest of us. Duffy says it’s good news for the travel industry but could translate to difficulties for travelers, since both holidays fall on a Saturday. That will mean few available seats on planes, fewer open hotel rooms and crowded restaurants and attractions. Duffy says about 81-percent of all travelers will be going by motor vehicle, 14-percent will fly and the rest will go by train, bus or other modes of transportation. She says it’s the busiest travel time of the year, and it will be record-breaking this year. While gasoline prices have crept up in recent days, Duffy says the cost of filling the tank will -not- be keeping most people from making their planned trips to visit families and friends. The average gas price in Iowa now is a dollar-74. That’s up from a dollar-42 a year ago and down from a dollar-87 a month ago. The current national average is a dollar-83.