Summer's Busiest Travel Day: Five Things to Know

iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — With school officially out and vacations in full swing, travelers should expect crowded skies this summer.

Airlines for America predicted the summer of 2014 would be the busiest for air travel in the last six years.

But there’s no busier day for travel than this coming Thursday — July 3. That’s according to online travel giant Orbitz, which analyzed its booking data to pinpoint that date. It makes sense given that the July 4th holiday falls on a Friday this year, which AAA said is contributing to the increased number of travelers as compared to last year.

So now you know the busiest day of the summer to take to the sky. What else do you need to know about July 4 holiday travel?

Here are four more stats to share at your BBQs this coming week:

Prices for both hotels and airfare are more expensive July 4 week than they were last year — 5 percent higher for hotels and 5 percent higher for airfare.
Some 41 million Americans expected to travel at least 50 miles or more, according to AAA, a 2 percent increase over last year. More than 85 percent will drive instead of fly. And that’s good news for the rental car business. Enterprise — which also owns brands National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car — reports double digit spikes in advance bookings both at its airport and neighborhood rental car locations.
Las Vegas is the number-one travel destinations for July 4 vacationers this year, according to Priceline. It came in at number 5 last year. New Orleans, which took the top spot in 2013, has slipped to number 3. Rounding out the top 5: San Diego (2), Los Angeles (4), Chicago (5).

4. Those still shopping for airfare will want to know the going rate: Priceline said average domestic holiday airfare is $396; average international airfare is $734.