The number of Americans traveling during the Thanksgiving weekend this year is expected to decline for the first time since 2002, according to AAA.

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About 41 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home during the holiday weekend, down from 1.4 percent, or 600,000 travelers, compared with last year's 41.6 million travelers.

This is the fourth consecutive travel holiday this year with a year-to-year decline in the number of travelers, AAA said.

"The overall state of the economy continues to present real challenges for some Americans looking to travel this Thanksgiving," AAA President and CEO Robert L. Darbelnet said in a prepared statement. "However, the desire to spend time with family, combined with significantly lower gasoline prices than earlier this year, will provide a strong impetus for many Americans to travel this holiday season."

The national average for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is $2.07 per gallon, 88 cents less than a month ago and $1.03 less than a year ago.

The preferred mode of travel this Thanksgiving holiday appears to be the automobile, with more than 33.2 million Americans -- 81 percent of holiday travelers -- expected to travel by automobile. However, that's down 1.2 percent from the 33.6 million people who drove a year ago.

Nearly 4.54 million, or 11 percent of holiday travelers, plan to travel by airplane, down 7.2 percent from the 4.89 million air travelers last year.

However, travel by train, bus or other mode of transportation is expected to increase. About 3.26 million Americans, or 8 percent of travelers, plan to travel by a mode other than automobile or airplane. That's an increase of 5.8 percent, or 180,000 travelers, compared with the 3.08 million such travelers last year.

The greatest number of automobile travelers this Thanksgiving holiday will come from the Southeast with 8.8 million, followed by the West with 6.9 million. The Midwest is expected to have 6.5 million automobile travelers; the Great Lakes, 6.1 million; and the Northeast, 4.8 million.

The largest number of air travelers is expected to come from the Southeast, with 1.176 million, followed by the West with 1.172 million. The Northeast is expected to have 882,000 air travelers; the Midwest, 731,000; and the Great Lakes, 575,000.

Also, airfares and car rentals are expected to be higher this Thanksgiving holiday, according to AAA's Leisure Travel Index, which is based on available rates this holiday. Air passengers can expect airfares to be 8 percent higher than they were last year. Most airlines charge fees for checked baggage and other previously complimentary services, such as beverages and snacks.

The average car rental price is 4 percent higher than a same period a year ago. AAA bases its index for car rentals on the average lowest daily rate for a medium-size car in 20 U.S. airport locations.

The Thanksgiving and Christmas-New Year holiday periods are among the busiest long-distance travel periods of the year, according the Bureau of Transportation statistics. And although heavy focus is placed on crowded airports and bus and train stations on the Wednesday before and Sunday after Thanksgiving, when personal vehicle trips are added to the mix, Thanksgiving Day is actually a heavier long-distance travel day than Wednesday, according to the National Household Travel Survey.