AAA Believes This Holiday Season Could See Record Travel Numbers
The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that this holiday season might be the second busiest overall travel for the past 23 years. They’re projecting that around 115.2 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles for the holidays; the record for most overall holiday travel is 2019 when 119 million traveled for the holidays.
However, AAA anticipates that the number of people traveling by air will break the record, estimating that 7.5 million will fly this holiday season, eclipsing 2019’s record of 7.3 million. AAA expects the record for the total number of drivers on the road to fall short of the 2019 mark of 108 million, though. The current estimate is that 104 million drivers will travel at least 50 miles this holiday season.
Roadways Are About To Get Busy
AAA is forecasting a 2.2 percent increase in total domestic holiday travelers over last year, according to a report from Autoweek. The Senior Vice President of AAA Travel, Paula Twidale, notes that travel has been trending upward throughout this year. “This year-end holiday forecast, with an additional 2.5 million travelers compared to last year, mirrors what AAA Travel had been observing throughout 2023,” Twidale said. “More Americans are investing in travel, despite the cost, to make memories with loved ones and experience new places.”
AAA expects Friday, December 22, Saturday, December 23, and Thursday, December 28 to be the busiest days for the nation’s thoroughfares. However, they don’t expect much of an increase in motorist activity on December 24 and 31.
With such an increase in traffic, it’s possible that traveling by road could take as much as 20 percent longer during the holidays this year. The extra traffic will hit major metropolitan areas especially hard, with driving times in Washington DC, Denver, and Minneapolis taking up to 50 percent longer than usual.
Thankfully for drivers, gas prices have been declining lately, with the national average currently around $3 per gallon. It’s a trend that has continued since Thanksgiving weekend last month, when over 49 million Americans traveled at least 50 miles by road during that time frame. It’s a total that AAA says is one of the highest of the past 23 years.
Around Thanksgiving weekend, President Biden’s senior energy advisor, Amos Hochstein, cited the administration’s use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as a critical factor in gas prices subsiding. Hochstein also expressed optimism that gas prices trending lower would last into 2024. “The most common gasoline price right now that Americans will find is below $3, $2.95, or so,” he said. “We’re hoping to bring prices further down, especially to ensure consumers can see lower prices through the holiday season as we go towards January.”
Thankfully, that trend is holding steady for the many potential holiday commuters.
