According to AAA, approximately 41 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a decrease of 600,000 travelers (1.4 percent) from last year's total of 41.6 million.

This is the first decline in Thanksgiving holiday travel since 2002 and is the fourth consecutive travel holiday this year with a year-to-year decline in the number of travelers.

More than 33.2 million Americans (81 percent of all holiday travelers) expect to travel by automobile, a 1.2 percent decrease from the 33.6 million people who drove a year ago.

According to AAA's Leisure Travel Index (LTI), which is based on available rates, Thanksgiving travelers will pay more for airfares and car rentals this year.