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A Record Number of Americans Are Expected to Travel This Christmas and New Year

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About 107.3 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday season, a 3.1 percent increase from last year that can be explained in part by lower plane ticket prices and a growing economy.

The holiday travel season, according to a AAA report, will be the sixth consecutive record high in terms of number of travelers between Dec. 23 and Jan. 1.

Most of the travelers — 97.4 million — will be on U.S. roads driving to their destination.

“With record-level travelers hitting the road this holiday, drivers must be prepared for delays in major metros,” Dr. Graham Cookson, chief economist and head of research at INRIX. “Our advice to drivers is to avoid peak times altogether or consider alternative routes.”

AAA and INRIX, a global transportation analytics company, calculated the worst times to travel in 10 major U.S. cities. The most congestion is expected to occur during the week before the Christmas holiday in the early afternoon as people leave work and try to beat the traffic.

Those traveling by car will also find the most expensive year-end gas prices since 2014. Last week, average prices were $2.45 per gallon, a 9 percent increase from last year. AAA does expect the average to drop five cents by the end of the year.

“More expensive gas prices are not swaying holiday revelers to stay at home,” AAA senior vice president Bill Sutherland said.

Sutherland noted that travel across the board has increased “year-over year for every major holiday weekend” and the same is expected of this year-end holiday time frame.

“We’ve seen the strong economy and growing consumer confidence fuel holiday travel all year long,” he said.

Air travel is also up 4.1 percent this year, the fourth consecutive year of volume increase, with 6.4 million people flying to their holiday destinations. AAA reported that holiday airfare was almost 20 percent cheaper than it was last year, but rental car rates are more expensive.

The remaining 3.6 million people will travel by trains, buses, rails and cruise ships.

The top 10 year-end holiday destinations are Orlando, Florida; Anaheim, California; Cancun, Mexico; Honolulu, Hawaii; Kahului, Hawaii; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Miami, Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and New York, NY. (Read more from “A Record Number of Americans Are Expected to Travel This Christmas and New Year” HERE)

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Biggest Thanksgiving Travel Surge in Years

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Amid a strong economy and solid consumer confidence, AAA expects Americans to get on the road and trek through airports over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the largest numbers in 12 years.

The auto club projects that nearly 51 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home during the five-day period from Wednesday through Sunday, with 89 percent driving. Almost 8 percent will fly.

Auto travel is expected to jump by 3.2 percent from last Thanksgiving and air travel by 5 percent. The overall increase is 3.3 percent.

AAA said travelers going by plane will pay the lowest average round-trip ticket price in five years for the top 40 domestic routes — $157.

But the daily car rental average charge of $70 is 34 percent higher than last year’s figure and the highest Thanksgiving weekend rate since 2013. (Read more from “Biggest Thanksgiving Travel Surge in Years” HERE)

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