AAA says end-of-year holiday travel could break records  

Following a blockbuster summer, end of year holiday travel in the U.S. appears on track to break national records, and Coloradans waiting for last minute deals may want to reconsider.

Travel trends underwent tectonic shifts post-COVID with the rise of remote work and pent up consumer demand. Experts coined the term “revenge travel” to describe the surge in vacations in 2021 and 2022 by people who felt robbed of their experiences during the beginning of the pandemic. 

“Pre-pandemic, you could probably wait until mid-October to book for Thanksgiving, or wait until after Thanksgiving to book for Christmas to get a good deal,” said AAA Colorado spokesperson Skyler McKinley. “But there is no thing as a last-minute deal anymore.”

According to a new consumer survey from AAA, more than two-thirds of Colorado travelers are planning at least one overnight trip for Thanksgiving this year. Sixty percent said they will have already finalized their travel plans before October. 

The survey also found that more than three-quarters of Colorado travelers, 77%, are planning a trip with at least one overnight stay for Christmas. Only 12% said they will wait until December to book their Christmas vacation, with the vast majority, 71%, booking in September, October or November. 

Coloradans planning to fly out of Denver International Airport should take note that Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, meaning longer airport lines are likely during the weekend and especially the Monday before the holiday. 

According to the survey, 51% of Colorado travelers said they plan to fly during the holiday season, with 23% saying they plan to drive and 26% saying they plan to do a mix of both. 

For mountain resort-town residents planning to stay local for the Christmas to New Year’s period, they should make plans now, be it a restaurant reservation or booking lodging for visiting family. 

“Especially for Christmas, we tend to be a cold-weather destination,” McKinley said. “In the High Country, you’re competing against all the folks who want to be here, and it’s looking like that’s going to be a lot of people.

On a national level, 2019 set the record for end-of-year travel in the U.S., with 119 million travelers during the Christmas and New Year’s period. That year, more than 55 million people also traveled for Thanksgiving, according to AAA. 

This year, “I think there’s no question we will far surpass what we saw in 2019,” McKinley said.