With less than two weeks until Christmas, a new report looks at just how busy holiday travel will be this year. According to AAA, an estimated 115.2-million U.S. travelers will be going 50 miles or more during the 10-day year-end holiday travel period (between December 23rd and January 1st).
- That’s an increase of 2.2%, or 2.5-million more travelers, from 2022.
- It’s also the second highest year-end travel forecast since AAA started tracking travel for the year-end holidays in 2000.
- The busiest Christmas and New Year’s travel period on record was in 2019, with 119-million travelers.
So how are all these people getting to their destinations?
- The holiday roads will be busy, as AAA expects 103.6-million people will be driving to their holiday destinations. That’s 1.8-million more than last year.
- Airports will be bustling as well, with an estimated 7.51-million Americans expected to fly during the year-end holiday period.
If you’re one of the nearly 104-million folks who will be on the road, here’s what traffic is expected to be like.
- INRIX predicts several days of potentially bad traffic, with Saturday, December 23rd from 11a.m. to 7p.m. and Thursday, December 28th from 2p.m. to 8p.m. to be the most congested.
- For New Year’s travel, INRIX says traffic will be heavy on Saturday, December 30th and the best times to hit the road are before lunchtime or after 7p.m.
- For those with flexible schedules, traveling on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day will help you avoid the worst traffic.
Source: AAA
Scott's Thoughts:
- Maybe we should hit the road now to get to Grandma’s by Christmas!
- What are your holiday travel plans? Will you be flying or driving to your destination?
- What are your tips to make holiday travel less stressful?