Posted Thursday, December 6, 2012 --- 11:28 a.m.

NEW YORK (AP) -- This Christmas travel season could be the busiest in six years, with 93.3 million Americans predicted to hit the road, according to AAA. That's 1.6 percent more than last year and just 400,000 people shy of the 2006 record.

This year, highways will be more crowded than ever, largely because airlines have cut the number of seats available and continue to raise prices. AAA says 84.4 million people will drive at least 50 miles between Dec. 22 and Jan. 1 -- a new record. That's 90.5 percent of holiday travelers, up from 89.3 percent six years ago.

Put another way: one in four Americans will be driving long distances for Christmas and New Year's. So expect plenty of traffic jams, crowded highway rest stops and overflowing toll plazas.

Copyright 2012: Associated Press