Orlando, FL — More than 55 million travelers are making plans to kick off the holiday season with a trip of 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving. This will be the second-highest Thanksgiving travel volume since AAA began tracking in 2000, trailing only the record set in 2005. Overall, an additional 1.6 million more people will travel compared with last year, a 2.9% increase. Most holiday travelers will drive to their destinations and Wednesday afternoon (November 27th) is expected to be the worst travel period nationally. By the numbers: 2019 Thanksgiving travel forecast, Automobiles: 49.3 million travelers will hit the road this Thanksgiving, the most since 2005 and 2.8% more than last year. Planes: With 4.6% growth, air travel will see the biggest increase in travel volume during the Thanksgiving holiday, with 4.45 million Americans expected to fly. Trains, Buses and Cruise Ships: Travel by other modes will reach 1.49 million, a slight increase of 1.4% from 2018. Gas prices have been fluctuating as of late but are currently cheaper than the national average last year, giving Americans a little extra money to spend on travel and motivating millions to take road trips. For most of Americans, AAA expects gas prices to be similar to last year’s Thanksgiving holiday, which averaged $2.57.