CLEVELAND — Editors Note: The video in the player above is from an unrelated story previously published.
As families across the United States are getting ready to hit the roads, rails, and airports to spend Thanksgiving Day with their loved ones, a new survey by the digital auto marketplace, cars.com, revealed that 84 percent of travelers are being impacted by the current gas prices.
57 percent of participants said that they will be traveling 50 miles or more starting this Friday, and an additional 39 percent are planning to leave the day before or on Thanksgiving.
The survey also revealed that 77 percent of respondents are planning to visit family at a relative’s house with the highest percentage heading to the South, followed by Mid-Atlantic and then the Midwest.
According to Cars.com, the survey also showed:
- 62 percent of remote or hybrid workers will drive over flying to their holiday destinations and are staying longer than usual.
- 48 percent plan to leave the weekend prior to Thanksgiving (Friday through Sunday).
- 25 percent say they originally booked a flight but canceled due to factors beyond their control
- 57 percent plan to travel 50 miles or more
- Nearly 6 in 10 of those traveling this year are going farther than usual, with 34 percent journeying more than 100 miles
Gas prices are not the only influence on Thanksgiving travel plans, either.
55 percent of travelers who participated in the survey said to be concerned about the rising cases of the Delta variant while traveling. Nearly a quarter of respondents state they changed their travel location due to vaccine mandates.
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