Hate holiday traffic? Here are the best times to travel, by air and car

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Look for holiday travel to rev up starting this weekend.

AAA projects 119.3 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home from Saturday, Dec. 21 to Wednesday, Jan. 1. That’s a 3% increase from 2019.

Travel experts said one bright spot this year is that Christmas falls in the middle of the week, allowing travelers to stretch out their time between two weekends, instead of a shorter window.

Sally French, a travel rewards expert with NerdWallet, said fliers also may luck out because airlines are back up to full staff almost a year and a half after the COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared over.

“We’ve seen more route availability and that’s really good news. Say your flight is canceled. Maybe you can hop on another one and connect and get to your destination more easily than you’ve been able to do in years past,” French said.

However, there is one potential downside for some fliers. Passengers who scored tickets with low-cost carriers could hit financial turbulence. French warns to do your homework because it might be cheaper to send your luggage or gifts ahead of time.

“We are seeing more and more airlines charge for carry on bags. If that’s the case, it may be more affordable to ship it. Because a lot of these airlines will charge many many amount of money to bring a carry on bag,” French said.

Travel experts say drivers and fliers will likely encounter the least traffic on Christmas Eve and Christmas. The same for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Here are a few of the times to watch for congestion on the road according to Inrix, a company that studies real-time traffic patterns:

• Monday, Dec. 23: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 26: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 27: 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.