Travel Underway for the Holidays
This year the vast majority of travelers will be hitting the roadways, with AAA expecting 104 Million people to travel 55 miles or more from home between Christmas and New Year's. This is about double what we saw during the Thanksgiving rush. The worst time to travel by car will be Saturday, December 23rd or Tuesday, December 26th with heavy travel anticipated during the afternoon hours of the 27-30. Minimal travel impact is expected on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve or NYD. Some of the worst metro's to be driving in will be Denver, Minneapolis and D.C. according to AAA and Inrix travel forecasters.
Another busy way to fly will be by air, which is UP from both last year and in 2019 pre-Pandemic levels. This year could actually set a record with 7.5 million travelers over 2019's peak of 7.3 million. Part of the reason? Slightly lower ticket prices for holiday travel according to AAA. Additionally, cruise, bus and train travel are up, nearly 11% compared to last year!
Some of this year's "top travel spots" across the contiguous 48 will be in the Southwest including Las Vegas, Phoenix and Anaheim (Disney). Similarly, Orlando and Miami will be travel hot spots in the Southeast. Looks like folks are headed to warmer destinations for the Christmas season. Additionally, tourist destinations like NYC top the list of popular travel locations.
