Nearly 44 million Americans to travel for Memorial Day weekend

Get ready for a busy holiday on the roads and in the skies over Memorial Day weekend. AAA forecasts that 43.8 million Americans will travel 50 or more miles from home.

“We haven’t seen Memorial Day weekend travel numbers like these in almost 20 years,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel, in a statement. “We’re projecting an additional one million travelers this holiday weekend compared to 2019, which not only means we’re exceeding pre-pandemic levels but also signals a very busy summer travel season ahead.”  

AAA considers the Memorial Day weekend to run from Thursday to Monday.

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This will be the second most traveled Memorial Day since recordkeeping started in 2000. Memorial Day 2005 holds the record with 44 million travelers, just 200,000 more vacationers than this year. 

Almost 90% of us will drive, a record 38.4 million people. AAA said it expects similar gas prices to last year.

The agency also expects airline prices to be similar to 2023. Analysts found only a 1-2% increase in ticket prices. The expected 3.64 million people to take to the sky is just under the record airport travel numbers from Memorial Day 2005.

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Where are Americans headed?

AAA crunched their booking numbers to find out the top travel destinations for the holiday. Theme parks, entertainment venues, beaches, cruise ports and European cities were the common themes.

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