Holiday Travel Update: Hitting the Road
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You know they were talking about travel by plane, train and automobile. More Americans are traveling this Thanksgiving. So if you are hitting the road this morning, listen up, Justin McNaull (ph) of AAA joins us live from Washington with some tips to make it a smooth ride. Good morning -- Justin.</s>JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA: Well good morning.</s>COSTELLO: There's a lot of people on the roads this holiday.</s>MCNAULL: There's about 30 million people hitting the highways. So regardless which direction you are going, expect to have a lot of company.</s>COSTELLO: Well I was a little surprised by that, because although gas prices are down, they are not cheap.</s>MCNAULL: Yes, they are about $1.50 a gallon, which the good news is it's down a quarter from Labor Day. But of course Labor Day was some record highs. So about 10 cents higher than they were a year ago. But Thanksgiving really is one of those got to do it family holidays. And it is comparatively cheap when you think about some of the alternatives like taking big fancy vacations to places. Really, it's just putting gas in the car, driving to grandma's, spending a night or two there and then coming home.</s>COSTELLO: Definitely true. Is it my imagination or do people seem to leave at the same time?</s>MCNAULL: That's one of the things that makes Thanksgiving so hard. So many of us have to work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and we will finally leave work, some folks will, at 2:00, 3:00, and everyone will hit the road this afternoon. And you combine those holiday travelers with the commuters going home, people going out to get last minute turkey stuffing, and it really can make for a rotten day on the roads. The reality, the federal numbers actually show more people will take long distance car trips tomorrow than they will today. But on Thanksgiving Day it's spread out a little better. Wednesday, today, it's just so intense because we're all out there together.</s>COSTELLO: And what about Sunday?</s>MCNAULL: Sunday is another real busy day. If you can try to come home on Sunday morning instead of waiting until the afternoon, you should find the trip will go a bit smoother.</s>COSTELLO: Give us some tips on how to make your car safe for your journey to grandma's house.</s>MCNAULL: It's worth taking 15 minutes in the driveway to pop the hood, look at the belts and the hoses, make sure that they look like they are supposed to, they are not cracked or gummy or bulging. Look at the tires, make sure that you have sufficient tread on there, that they are properly inflated. About a third of cars have one tire that's not properly inflated. If your battery has been giving you trouble across the last couple days, go ahead and get it changed now. Take 30 minutes today to get your car ready, to do that little bit of maintenance that you need so that you can avoid breaking down on your trip there, or heaven forbid, have to find a mechanic who can fix your car on Thanksgiving Day.</s>COSTELLO: That would be terrible, wouldn't it?</s>MCNAULL: Part of the day (ph).</s>COSTELLO: I can't even imagine that now. OK, so let's say you are taking your kids to the family's house for Thanksgiving Day. What can you do to keep them occupied, because sometimes that can be a nightmare?</s>MCNAULL: If you -- if you can't convince them to come to your house, which is what we're doing, you need to drive it in with the kid's nap schedule. If your child sleeps well in the car and you can marry those two up, you can get two or three good hours of peaceful driving there. That doesn't work for a lot of folks. If mom or dad has to ride in the back seat next to the kids to try to entertain them, it gets you some good bonding time, as well as you can keep the kids occupied a little better. Just bring books, toys. A lot of people have the new little portable DVD players. If you can find a way to safely secure that in the car so that it won't go flying if you have to hit the brakes or something, that's another good way to buy you some extra time and patience. But also take breaks for the kids.</s>COSTELLO: What about -- what about involving the kids in actually planning the trip?</s>MCNAULL: It's a great thing to do up front, and it actually pays off during the trip. Because if the kids are all excited about seeing Breezewood, Pennsylvania, when you get there, they are going to think it's Disneyland when you take a break there. They get out, go to little trinket shops. It's one more way to help break up the trip into manageable segments.</s>COSTELLO: You know Breezewood is sort of like Disneyland for kids, isn't it? Justin McNaull...</s>MCNAULL: Whole different level.</s>COSTELLO: Yes. Justin McNaull, from the AAA, we appreciate it.</s>MCNAULL: Thanks.