Christmas, end of 2024 could break one last travel record, AAA says

SALT LAKE CITY — Travel numbers didn’t just recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2024, but many new records were set throughout the year. So, it’s not much of a surprise that national travel experts expect that 2024 will end with a bang.

Nearly 120 million Americans are projected to travel at least 50 miles from home at some point during the extended Christmas and New Year’s holiday period, according to AAA’s estimates. It would break a record set in 2019 should the projections come to fruition.

“The year-end holidays are a time to reconnect with loved ones and honor family traditions, with millions traveling by air and road to be together,” said Cyndi Zesk, senior vice president of travel for AAA Utah, in a statement.

Inside the trends

The projections are based on travel anticipated between Dec. 21 of this year and Jan. 1, 2025. About 107 million Americans are expected to drive during the holiday period, accounting for about 90% of all the travel. The automobile organization said lower gas prices are a key reason for this expectation.

The national average remains steady just above $3 per gallon of regular gasoline, while it has fallen to $2.97 per gallon in Utah, a week before holiday travel is projected to pick up. For Utah, the price is about the same as this time last year, but nearly a quarter per gallon cheaper than a month ago. Its average electric vehicle charging cost remains at $0.29 per kilowatt-hour.

AAA officials explained that this means road trips can offer more “flexibility and lower cost” than other modes of travel.

That said, an estimated 7.85 million Americans are projected to join Santa in the skies this season, which would be slightly higher than a record 7.5 million fliers last year. Another 4.47 million are projected to use other modes, including bus, train or cruise. This number is up 10% from last year and could end up being the busiest holiday season for cruises and rail service in two decades, according to AAA.

Wednesday’s benefit

While this year could be a record-setter, the upside is that travel might be more spread out this season because of where the holidays land on the calendar.

Zesk explained that the organization expects different trends from last year since Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Wednesday this time around. This is also why this year’s holiday period is longer than 2023, which was only 10 days.

The transportation data and insights provider INRIX estimates that the weekends before and after Christmas will be the busiest periods, but there might be “minimal congestion” as compared to Thanksgiving or when Christmas falls on other days of the week because people can travel on different days instead of the same days and times.

It means there could be some periods of heavier traffic over the next few weekends, but it may not be too bad this year.