Millions of holiday travelers make trek back home

People wait in line at the gate in Atlanta RELATED VIDEO CNN's Rusty Dornin has the latest on holiday travel in San Francisco Windows Media 28K 56K

NEW YORK (CNN) -- By Monday, more than 34 million Americans will have taken to the skies, roads or railways in the holiday exodus that began on Wednesday, a 2 percent increase over last Thanksgiving, according to AAA estimates.

Most people returned home Sunday, making it one of the nation's busiest travel days of the year.

A record number of travelers, nearly 28 million, were in their cars, driving 100 miles or more back home, according to AAA.

Six million more traveled by airplane, train or bus during the holiday, according to the AAA.

Other experts placed the figure much higher for air travel, however. The Air Transportation Association predicted 18 million would take the skies.

The Southeast is expected to see the busiest highways this holiday weekend, with about 7.2 million vehicles on the road, followed by the West with 5.4 million, the Midwest with 5.3 million and the Great Lakes with 4.9 million.

A common sign at some airports

Buses were also out in record numbers. AAA estimates that 1 million riders will have traveled between Wednesday and Monday, and for those who chose to go Greyhound on Sunday, the company added 3,200 buses to its regular fleet.

Amtrak expected 550,000 passengers aboard its trains for the holiday period, a 30 percent jump above the normal load.

"I'd rather do this than drive, that's for sure," said one train passenger.

In New York, while 27,000 passengers pass through Penn Station on an average day, 50,000 were expected Sunday.

"I actually got a seat. I was very fortunate," said one teen-ager.

Correspondent Cynthia Tornquist contributed to this report