- It is estimated that 119 million people will travel for the holidays this year, breaking the record set in 2019.
- AAA predicts that 107 million people will travel by car, 7.85 million by air and 4.47 million will use other modes of transportation
- Christmas Day and Christmas Eve, along with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, are the best days to travel.
A record-breaking number of people are expected to travel for Christmas and New Year’s this year, reaching pre-pandemic travel numbers.
AAA expects that 119.3 million people will be traveling from home more than 50 miles during the year-end holiday period.
“This year’s domestic travel projection narrowly surpasses the previous record set in 2019 by 64,000 travelers. AAA expects an additional 3 million travelers this holiday season compared to last year,” AAA reports.
This includes people traveling by car, plane, train, bus or cruises.
How many people are expected to travel for the holidays?
It is expected that 107 million people will be traveling by car, 7.85 million by air and 4.47 million people are expected to use a different form of transportation, totaling 119.3 million, per AAA.
Last year there was a total of 116.07 million people who travelled for the holidays.
104.5 million traveled by car, 7.5 million by plane, and other forms of transportation were used by 3.89 million people in 2023.
The previous record number of holiday travelers was set in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, per AAA. The year there were a total of 119.3 million people who traveled for the holidays.
This year there is expected to be a 0.1 percent increase from 2019 and a 2.8 percent increase from 2023. This would be three million more than last year and 64,000 more than in 2019.
The number of people traveling using other methods of transportation such as train, bus or cruises is up 10 percent compared to last year.
What are the best and worst times to travel by car?
AAA projects that the worst times to drive will be during both the weekend before Christmas Day and the weekend before New Year’s Day.
But the days of the holidays themselves are expected to see little traffic and congestion on the roads.
Travel times by car are expected to be 30 percent longer during the holidays than they typically are, per AAA.
According to USA Today, here is a look at the worst times to drive over the holidays:
- Dec. 19 – between 3 and 8 p.m.
- Dec. 20 – between 1 and 8 p.m.
- Dec. 21 – between 4 and 8 p.m.
- Dec. 22 – between 3 and 8 p.m.
- Dec. 23 – between 1 and 6 p.m.
- Dec. 26 – noon and 5 p.m.
- Dec. 27 – between 3 and 7 p.m.
- Dec. 28 – between 1:30 and 7 p.m.
- Dec. 29 – between noon and 6 p.m.
- Dec. 30 – between 5 and 7 p.m.
- Jan. 2 – between 4 and 8 p.m.
What are the best and worst times to travel by plane?
Between Dec. 23 and Jan. 1 there are 32.5 million passengers scheduled to fly out of U.S. airports, according to USA Today.
“Unlike Thanksgiving week, there isn’t a single busiest day to travel, with most days between Christmas and the New Year expecting to see high volumes of travelers,” per Hopper.
According to Hopper, the best way to avoid heavy airport crowds is to travel on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.
The busiest airports this Christmas season are expected to be Atlanta, Dallas Fort-Worth and Denver.
“The morning will be busiest in most airports, with the highest volume of seats scheduled to depart between 8am and 12pm in most major cities,” per Hopper.
