Gas and airfare prices have jumped. Americans are traveling this weekend anyway

Americans are packing the highways and airports this holiday weekend – 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’s record of 44.8 million .

“When it comes to travel, it’s one of the only things I’ll treat myself on,” James Smith, who’s 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.

Airfares are up more than 20% compared with last year, according to an estimate from travel booking site Kayak as well as data from major airlines. And gas pricesnationally 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’t letting up despite the higher costs isn’t a surprise, said Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics consulting company.

“Survey data is indicating there’s a lot of concern about gas prices,” he told CNN. “But there’s a disconnect between how people feel and how they act.”