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100.5M travelers expected during holidays

Posted at 11:37 AM, Dec 24, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-24 14:37:28-05

Many people are traveling to day to reach their family and friends for Christmas.

Action News headed to McCarran International Airport on Christmas Eve to find out if it was crowded or not.

So far, it is smooth sailing at McCarran. In fact, we noticed that some flights had even arrived a few minutes early on Thursday morning.

That is not the case elsewhere in the nation.

Rain and snow could slow people down in parts of the South and East into Christmas Day, according to AccuWeather. And another major storm is expected over the weekend.

In fact, about one third of the United States can expect a white Christmas. There is even a chance of snow in the higher elevations of the Las Vegas valley for 2015.

According to AAA, more than 100.5 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles or more from home during this year's holiday season, which is defined as Dec. 23 through Jan. 3, 2016. That is an increase of 1.4 percent over last year and 7th consecutive year of year-end holiday travel growth.

For those who are driving, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline is expected to fall below $2 per gallon by Christmas. AAA expects most U.S. drivers will pay the lowest gas prices on New Year's Day since 2009.

And for those who are flying, those prices have also dropped. Airfares for top domestic flight routes are 6 percent lower this year ($174 average round trip), according to PennLive.com.