ShareThisThe holiday travel season kicked off smoothly Wednesday and is expected to crest this weekend, although high gas prices are making more people think twice about leaving home between now and the end of the year.
An estimated 65 million Americans are expected to take a trip in the next two weeks, according to AAA, which tracks travel trends.
"Unprecedented gas prices and an upsurge in travel expenses are definitely having an impact on holiday travel," said Cynthia Harris, spokeswoman for AAA Northern California, which tracks travel trends.
Nationwide, AAA projects that trips by car will increase a scant 0.9 percent and plane travel will drop 0.3 percent, compared with the winter holiday period in 2006. Harris said travel has slowed, given the population increases in the region and the nation in the past year. "People are definitely thinking more about their budgets," she said.
Amanda Spaven, 50, found a cheap way to relax as she killed time waiting to board her plane for a trip back to her native England on Wednesday. She came across a high-tech, full-body massage chair in one of the retail stores and was in no hurry to leave.
"This is rather nice," she said, fiddling with the buttons to adjust the pressure of the vibrations on her back, neck and feet.
Stacy Lucas wasn't so sanguine. She had just learned that her United Airlines flight to Los Angeles was canceled as a result of a mechanical problem, which meant she would miss her connecting flight home to Cleveland.
"This is a nightmare," Lucas said as she waited in line to talk to a ticket agent. A bright red and white "fragile" sticker had accidentally ended up on the back of her jacket, and she wasn't amused. "I just want to get home," she said.
Home wasn't on the mind of Berkeley's Jennifer Ward. She and her husband, and their two sons, 7 and 9 years old, were heading to Maui for the holidays.
The family tries to vacation somewhere warm during the winter break. The yearly trips take the place of other gifts and help the family escape the commercialization that grips the Christmas season, Ward said. Last year they ended up in Tulum, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico.
And then there's a more practical application of solving a dilemma oft faced by families around the holidays: "We have four different sets of grandparents, so we don't have to worry about who we'll visit," said Ward, 45.
There didn't appear to be too many frayed nerves on Bay Area roads and in the airports Wednesday, but lousy weather can quickly dampen the holiday season. Rain and snow are forecast for many regions of the nation during the next week. A word to the wise: Be patient -- and flexible.
"Holidays happen every year," said David Vossbrink, a spokesman for San Jose International Airport. "People pretty much know what to expect."
E-mail Rachel Gordon at rgordon(at)sfchronicle.com. For more stories visit scrippsnws.com
