From coast-to-coast, people from all over the United States will be celebrating the coming holiday with friends, family and of course lots of fireworks. This Independence Day weekend provides the unique added bonus of a three-day weekend, meaning more time to enjoy visiting loved ones and another day off from work.

 Here in California, the number of people traveling for Fourth of July weekend is expected to be the highest it has been since 2002. According to AAA, approximately 3.9 million Californians will drive to reach their holiday destinations, which is a 1 percent increase when compared to travel figures from 2015.  

“Economic growth, increased disposable income, and lower prices, have spurred many Californians to celebrate our Independence Day weekend by traveling,” says Cynthia Harris, AAA Northern California spokesperson. “We are well on our way for 2016 to be a record-breaking year for summertime travel.”

Whether people will be traveling 50 or 500 miles, Independence Day travel looks to increase on a national scale. More than 43 million people will travel during the holiday weekend, representing a 1.3 percent increase compared to last year.

Nationally, this represents the highest Fourth of July travel volume on record with five million more travelers compared to Memorial Day of this year.

Besides the obvious reasons for traveling to see distant friends and family, the time to travel this holiday season has come at a more than reasonable cost.

Weekend airfares are expected to decrease by up to 9 percent with the bottom line price around $207 for a round trip ticket to the top 40 U.S. air routes.