Planning to travel for Memorial Day? You’ve going to have a lot of company.
Travel projections from AAA for the holiday weekend predict 42.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more as vacation season gets underway. That’s a 7% increase—some 2.7 million more people—over 2022’s totals.
“This is expected to be the third busiest Memorial Day weekend since 2000, when AAA started tracking holiday travel,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel in a statement. “More Americans are planning trips and booking them earlier, despite inflation. This summer travel season could be one for the record books, especially at airports.”
Expect airports to be especially crowded, as an additional 3.4 million people are planning to fly to their destinations, an 11% increase from 2022. Despite the escalating cost of plane tickets, the total number of flyers is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels.
AAA says this could be the busiest Memorial Day at airports since 2005.
An extra 2.1 million people are expected to travel by car this year, which is still a bit shy of pre-pandemic traffic jams, but still represents a 6% increase. AAA says Thursday and Friday (May 25th and 26th) from 3-6 p.m. will be the worst times to travel (with Friday especially bad).
Areas of Seattle, Boston and the Jersey Shore will see typical travel times increase by between 87% and 97%.
Want to dodge some of the traffic? Avoid the usual tourist hotspots. AAA says Orlando, New York City, and Las Vegas are the top domestic destinations. Cruise ports will also be jam packed, as domestic cruise bookings are expected to soar 50% compared to last year.