Almost 104 million people travel to their holiday destinations, an increase of 1.8% compared to 2022.
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Ho-ho-but if you’re getting from A to B during the holiday season, you won’t be alone. Airports and especially the roads will be a little more crowded between Christmas and New Year compared to last year.
In its annual year-end forecast, AAA projects that 115.2 million Americans will be on the move during the holiday travel period. The total number of domestic travelers is a 2.2% increase over last year, but a 3.2% decrease from 2019, when 119 million Americans traveled during the holidays.
Keep in mind, the AAA’s definition of “travel” is extremely broad: going 50 miles or more from home (without an overnight stay required) at some point during the last ten days of the year. For this low bar, picking up a son or daughter from college counted, as did a shopping trip to a mall an hour away.
Tis the season for road traffic
This is not to say that the roads will not be crowded, as 90% of holiday travelers will travel by car. AAA expects nearly 104 million people to drive to their vacation destinations, up 1.8% from 2022 but down 3.7% from the 2019 record.
As 2023 winds to a close, drivers can expect to pay about the same or less for a gallon of gas than they did last holiday season, when the national average on Christmas Day and year was $ 3.10 and $ 3.20 respectively.
INRIX, a provider of transportation data and insights, predicts that the worst traffic during the 10-day holiday period will be on three days: Saturday, December 23; Thursday, December 28; and Saturday, December 30, when many people are heading home from their vacation destinations or traveling for New Year’s Eve. The best times to hit the road are before lunch or after 7pm.
It’s the busiest time of the year at airports
About 6.5% of vacation travelers will fly to their destinations, according to AAA estimates. Airports will be their busiest ever over the Christmas and New Year travel period as 7.5 million air travelers surpass 2019’s record of 7.3 million passengers.
The price of air travel during the holidays is slightly lower than last year, according to the airfare tracking site Hopper, whose holiday travel outlook established average domestic ticket prices for Christmas trips at $400 this year, about $52 per ticket (-12%) from last year. , but also significantly higher (+29%) than in 2019.
More people opt for an alternative
The remaining 3.5% of holiday travelers will reach their destinations by other means, such as bus, train or cruise ship. AAA expects more than 4 million Americans to take alternative transportation over Christmas and New Years. It is a jump of 3.4% compared to 2022 and it is also a jump of 1.1% compared to 2019.
