Low gas prices likely to influence holiday travel

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Many in the Chicago area are preparing to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend - but what should you expect if you're driving or flying?

Traveling by air this holiday season, you will have plenty of fellow travelers joining you.

Transportation expert Joe Schwieterman says the airlines have been running full and if you think it's tight on the way out for Thanksgiving, wait until the return.

"I can tell you that day is busy dawn to dusk, not only do you have a ton of holiday travelers, but you have the start of business travelers beginning the next week's business trips," Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor, said.

Roads will be very well-traveled this holiday weekend as well.

GasBuddy.com reports 92 percent of the people they surveyed will be driving for Thanksgiving - nearly a third traveling more than 500 miles.

A contributing factor is the decision to drive: good gas prices.

"This are very low, the lowest we've seen in four years," said Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy.com. "We're seeing some sizeable savings just versus a year ago."

DeHaan, a senior petroleum expert at GasBuddy.com, says foreign and domestic developments are making it a little easier on the wallet to fill up.

"Oil production in the US is at the highest since the 1980s, in fact, the Saudis are now getting so nervous about the rise in production that they're voluntarily cutting crude oil prices," DeHaan said.