What will 95 million U.S. holiday travelers look like? You’ll find out

Got holiday cheer? You and almost 95 million Americans travelers will need lots of it to sustain you through road traffic and airport security checkpoints between Dec. 23 and Jan. 4.

AAA reports that 4% more of us than last year will be traveling at least 50 miles from home to celebrate the holidays. It’s the highest travel volume predicted since the Auto Club began making forecasts in 2001.

Here are some more numbers worth noting as you make travel plans:

--91% of holiday travelers nationwide will be taking a road trip.
--5.7 million travelers nationwide will be flying to their destinations.
--1.1 million drivers will require a AAA rescue for dead batteries, flat tires and getting locked out of your car.
--the cost of hotels are up 4% to 5% over last year, and car rentals have increased 4% to an average $66 a day.
--lowest gas prices in five years show an average $2.55 a gallon.

Los Angeles International Airport announced it’s expecting almost 3 million passengers between Dec. 19 and Jan. 2. The busiest days will be Dec. 22, 23, 26 and 29 when more than 211,000 passengers a day will pass through the airport.

Airlines for America predicts LAX will be the second-busiest airport in the U.S. over the holiday period, after Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International.

Passengers leaving from LAX at peak times -- 6 to 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 7 to 11 p.m. -- should arrive two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international flights.

Now, back to that holiday cheer.

During the year-end travel period, concerts by local students, universities and community choirs are planned at LAX terminals. Kids can visit Santa Claus and take an arts-and-crafts break at Holiday Hangars locations in the airport too.