More cars will crowd the highways than ever before, largely because finding a seat on a plane at a desirable price has gotten more difficult. AAA says a record 84.4 million people will drive at least 50 miles between Dec. 22 and Jan. 1. The price of gas could be close to the average of $3.23 a gallon that drivers paid last Christmas Day. The price has dropped about 50 cents since September. AAA estimates the average price will range between $3.20 and $3.40 a gallon by New Year's Day, according to AAA. That's pricey, but hardly a deterrent to holiday travel. FILE - In this Wednesday, 21, 2011, file photo, holiday travelers, including Donald Occimio of Mesa, Ariz., dressed as Santa Claus, and his wife Diane check in with customer service agent Angelee Arciniega, right, for their Southwest Airlines flight at the Terminal 4 ticketing area at Sky Harbor International Airport, in Phoenix. The 2012 Christmas travel season could be the busiest in six years, with AAA predicting that 93.3 million Americans will hit the road. The travel forecast done by IHS Global Insight for AAA, one of the nation's largest leisure travel agencies, is based on interviews with 655 Americans and factors in estimates about the overall health of the economy. While about 1 million more people will driver, fewer will travel by plane. Airlines for America, the industry's trade group, estimates that about 15 million people will fly between Dec. 17 and Jan. 6. The group says there will be 42 million segments - a takeoff and landing - flown by passengers. That's about 300,000, or 1 percent, fewer segments than last year. Planes will also be fuller than last Christmas. The group's chief economist John Heimlich expects 86 percent of seats to be filled with paying passengers, up from 85 percent last year. That number could climb to 90 percent on the busiest days: the weekend before Christmas, the day after Christmas and Jan. 2. Once fliers arrive, they'll pay more for hotels and car rentals.