Merced area residents likely to travel longer distances this Thanksgiving

A number of Mercedians will be among the more than 5.6 million Californians planning to travel 50 miles or more over the upcoming four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

AAA predicts the number of long-distance travelers will increase nearly 4 percent over last year, reaching the highest level since 2007.

In a statement, AAA Northern California spokeswoman Cynthia Harris noted that “increased disposable income is spurring an increase in consumer spending,” prompting more people to venture out.

AAA projects that more than 4.8 million Californians will drive to and from their destinations over the holiday weekend, another 600,000 will fly and nearly 200,000 are expected to travel by other modes of transportation, including trains.

The boom in travel provides a boost for many local businesses, including Courtesy Rent A Car on 15th Street in Merced. Regional Manager Jeff Henenfent said rental car reservations are up from last year, with a host of customers saying lower gas prices factored into their decision to drive.

Henenfent said he increases his fleet of rental cars to 65 for the holiday weekend and about 41 vehicles have already been reserved – mostly SUVs and minivans.

“I only have a few left and most of those are smaller cars,” Henenfent said. “We’ve definitely seen a big increase since last year, and I think it’s attributed to the gas prices.”

Although lower prices at the pump mean more travelers are opting to drive, officials said air travel in Merced has also seen a slight increase.

Patrick Ore, station manager for Great Lakes Airlines at the Merced Regional Airport, said the spike in travel reservations begins the week of Thanksgiving and continues until the first part of December.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in the number of airline bookings,” Ore said. “I just think the economy is starting to get better and people have more money to spend.”

A question about Thanksgiving travel plans posted on the Merced Sun-Star’s Facebook page drew a number of responses, including those that said they plan to leave the Central Valley for a while.

And some will be coming to Merced County to spend the holiday with loved ones.

Lillian Mallory said she’ll be traveling about 90 miles from the Bay Area to Merced to be with family. Although the lower gas prices help with her plans, Mallory said higher prices wouldn’t have stopped her from enjoying Thanksgiving with family.

“They’d have to be insanely high, like impossibly high to keep me from coming home on Thanksgiving,” she posted.

Angelique Evans posted she will head south to Disneyland, while Andrew Butler said he’ll be staying close to home.

“No traveling for me,” Butler posted. “Gas prices still too high.”

Nationally, AAA forecasts that more than 46 million people will travel 50 miles or more over the long weekend, up 4.2 percent from last year.

The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.

This story was originally published November 24, 2014 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Merced area residents likely to travel longer distances this Thanksgiving."