AAA expecting another record-breaking travel holiday for the 4th of July

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Millions of people are expected to hit the roads and the skies over the next couple of days for some 4th of July travel.

Triple A says that over 60 million people will travel by car alone, over 2 million more than last year. In Arizona, that number is up about 5% from last year, 1.5 million.

The busiest day on the roads will be Wednesday, July 3rd, as people head out on their trips. Then, Sunday and Monday after the 4th of July will be the busiest for people coming back.

Triple A says 2024 has already been super busy, and the 4th of July holiday will break yet another travel record.

Officials say the record-breaking travel days are due to what they call “pent-up travel frustration” after the COVID-19 restrictions, and there are no signs of travel slowing down for the rest of 2024.

Even though 80% of people go on road trips, more people fly than ever before. And while the Tucson International Airport is expecting it to be only a little busier than your average summer day, that isn’t the case for other airports across the country.

“The rule of thumb is usually to get there two hours before your flight departure, but right now, you probably want to give yourself a little bit of extra time, maybe even three hours, just to be safe just because you don’t want to be stuck in the security line for an extremely long time,” a spokesperson for AAA Julian Paredes said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen so just be prepared and give yourself a lot of extra time right now, that’s the best piece of advice.”

And some good news for the holiday week is that gas prices are way lower now than they were this time last year. 2023 saw prices around $4, but this year, prices are sitting around $3.50 a gallon.

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