AAA: More Californians Traveling Memorial Day Weekend

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A new survey finds that a record number of Californians will be traveling over the three-day Memorial Day Weekend. 

AAA is projecting more than 4.6 million Californians plan on traveling 50 miles or more over the holiday weekend. Cynthia Harris with the auto association says that's up 2.5 percent from last year.

"Memorial Day travel is the second highest on record yet," says Harris. "And it's the second highest number of travelers in California since 2005. So this is a very good indication that the rest of the year we will also experience record high numbers. For the travel industry this is very good news."

Good news, she says, because it means more people will be booking flights, staying in hotels, and renting cars.

AAA says almost four million Californians will be driving, up nearly three percent from last year.

More people will be flying too. Air travel is up by 2.4 percent compared to last year's figures. The increases comes amid major problems with the Transportation Security Administration, including massive security lines causing people to miss their flights.

"That's something that's really haunting us here in California," says Harris. "So you really are best served to get to the airport as early as you can make it."

"If you plan to travel midday, early afternoon, you're going to encounter thousands and thousands of other people in security lines," says Harris. "So if you can take an early morning flight or a late evening flight you're going to encounter less people."

That's also her advice for people driving - try to leave early in the morning, before 9 a.m. or after 7 p.m.