(CNN) — Americans are packing the highways and airports this holiday weekend 鈥� even with gas and airfares significantly more expensive than last year.
AAA projected that a record number of Americans are traveling this weekend, with 45 million either flying or driving at least 50 miles from home, up from last year鈥檚 record of 44.8 million .
鈥淲hen it comes to travel, it鈥檚 one of the only things I鈥檒l treat myself on,鈥� James Smith, who鈥檚 flying this weekend, told CNN. Smith spent $550 to fly from New Mexico to Newark, New Jersey, for a holiday weekend with friends at the Jersey shore.
more than 20% compared with last year, according to an estimate from travel booking site Kayak as well as data from major airlines. And nationally averaged $4.55 a gallon as of the Friday heading into the weekend, up $1.38 from last year and up 53% since the start of the Iran war.
The fact that travel isn鈥檛 letting up despite isn鈥檛 a surprise, said Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics consulting company.
鈥淪urvey data is indicating there鈥檚 ,鈥� he told CNN. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a disconnect between how people feel and how they act.鈥�
Historically, , , haven鈥檛 dropped leisure or business travel without other factors also weighing in. That鈥檚 partly because the people who struggle the most with higher gas prices or airfares weren鈥檛 traveling much to begin with.
鈥淢ore than half of leisure hotel spending is by people making $150,000 or more,鈥� Sacks said.
But some hotel bookings appear to be softening. Laura Lee Blake told CNN more travelers could be skipping the hotel portion of their stay. Blake is CEO of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, whose 20,000 members, mostly of South Asian descent, own about 60% of US hotels.
鈥淭ravelers maybe skip an overnight stay to save money,鈥� she said. 鈥淢aybe they visit family members along the way, or they stay with friends instead of booking a hotel.鈥�
Frantz Simon and his family planned to do just that this weekend.
At a Jersey Turnpike rest stop on Thursday, Frantz, his wife, Mildred, and their two children were packed into a rented SUV to make a 12-hour drive from Long Island to Georgia for his grandson鈥檚 high school graduation. He said he wouldn鈥檛 consider missing the event: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a family outing,鈥� he said.
But to save money, they鈥檙e driving straight through in one day and staying with family in Georgia.
In June Lake, California, near the entrance of Yosemite National Park, Connie Lear manages rental reservations for 42 units, mostly condos and private homes. She said many of her regular renters are cutting back, even if they鈥檙e still coming.
鈥淚nstead of doing seven days, they鈥檙e doing five or four,鈥� she said.
And some people are finding ways to travel without spending more. John Mercagliano, who lives in a Philadelphia suburb, nixed plans to vacation in London with friends next week because of the cost. Instead, he is using his miles on American Airlines to fly to Arizona to vacation with the same friends, who live there.
鈥淚 considered it (not traveling at all), but I wanted to see them, and I didn鈥檛 want to do nothing at all,鈥� he said.
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