NORTH CAROLINA -- The Thanksgiving holiday travel season is underway.

AAA of the Carolinas estimates that 2.1 million Carolinians including 700,000 from South Carolina, will journey 50 miles or more from home between Wednesday and Sunday.

That's a 3.3 percent increase over last year.

According to AAA's Leisure Travel Index, air travelers will pay the lowest average fare in five years of $157 for a round-trip flight for the top 40 domestic routes.

That's down 23 percent from 2016.