Story highlights AAA forecasts a record number of Americans will travel over the holidays

Winter weather in the Northeast could cause trouble for some travelers

(CNN) A record number of Americans are expected to travel this holiday season, with AAA forecasting more than 100 million will spend the end of the year away from home.

According to AAA, between December 12 and January 1, 97.4 million Americans will make their journeys by automobile, while 6.4 million are expected to take airplanes. Another 3.6 million will use trains, buses or cruise ships to head to their destinations.

Those traveling by car are doing so despite facing the highest year-end gas prices in three years, AAA said. The national average this month is $2.47 a gallon, though AAA said that average should drop by the year's end.

This year's predictions mark a 3.1% increase in travel compared with 2016's holiday season, AAA said, adding that it's the ninth year in a row that travel has risen.

Holiday travelers line up Friday to catch a train to Boston from Union Station in Washington.

But folks hitting the road Saturday in the Northeast could run into trouble, according to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar.

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