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Although Thanksgiving holiday travel is expected to be up nationwide, AAA says fewer Pennsylvanians will hit the highways and airways this week.

About 904,000 Pennsylvanians will travel this holiday, down 4.7 percent from last year. Nationwide, AAA projects 38.4 million Americans will be traveling 50 miles or more, a 1.4 percent increase over last year.

"Most of the traffic will be on the major interstates and turnpikes," said Ruth Nagy, director of travel operations for AAA East Central.

The economy continues to have an impact on Pennsylvanians' holiday travel plans. Gas prices are about 60 cents a gallon higher this week than they were a year ago, when unleaded averaged $2.09 a gallon.

"Typically after an economic downturn, people in this area tend to be more conservative," Nagy said. "They may be more hesitant to loosen up and spend their vacation dollars. They are little slower to come back."

If you're looking for a hassle-free trip, plan to leave on off-peak times. Peak travel times are expected to be noon today and Sunday afternoon.

Locally, don't expect too many problems, even on the major highways. Route 22 and Interstate 99 will be the most heavily traveled today and Sunday but no major backups are anticipated.

"We don't have traffic around here like in a big city," said state trooper David McGarvey, Troop G spokesman.

Local travel agencies haven't been quite as busy for the Thanksgiving weekend.

"Last year, I can remember doing packages for families going to Disney, Florida, and Cancun. We don't have anyone vacationing over Thanksgiving at all. We did some airline tickets for people going to visit relatives but nothing for vacations," said Rachel Gingrich, owner of Heritage Travel, Altoona. "People are just staying home this year."

"Our business has been a little slower than last year as far as people calling for air tickets to visit relatives and take a vacation. We feel it is probably because of the economy," said Donna Wilt, owner of Classic Travel, Duncansville. "We do have people booking vacations for next year which is promising."

Erin Jones, who grew up in Martinsburg but now lives in Bowling Green, Ohio, has a trip planned to Marco Island off the southern tip of Florida.

Jones, her husband, Paul, and their children Ada, 16 months, and Eliot, 1 month, are renting a four-bedroom house a quarter-mile from the beach. Jones' parents, Richard and Dale Reeve of Martinsburg, and Paul's parents, who live in Florida, will be joining them, along with Jones' sister and her family of Ohio.

"We usually spend all our vacation time visiting family in Florida or back in Pennsylvania, so we wanted to take some time to actually be on a vacation," Jones said.

To afford the weeklong trip, the Joneses had to save and cut back on some "mini-vacations" they usually take throughout the year.

"Our budget's really tight, especially having two kids so close together, but we just decided we really needed this, and this is what we wanted to save our money for all year," Jones said.

The few local families who are traveling by air for Thanksgiving seem to have similar sentiments. Many with plane tickets are visiting family or meeting family members at a destination location.

"We do have a few families going to Orlando," said Amy Emenhiser, a travel agent at Heritage Travel. "November and December is always slow, but it has gone down a bit."

Luggage fees and holiday surcharges might not be the only reasons people are steering clear of flying. Airline prices are slightly higher this year than last, despite the dip in demand for tickets, said Karen Strayer, a travel agent at Ketrow-Rothrauff Travel in Hollidaysburg.

Regardless of the mode of transportation, Nagy advised people to remain calm and stress-free.

"Everybody needs to just pack their patience because it's going to be busy," she said.