A record number of Americans are coming — or leaving — home for the holidays.
AAA forecasts 107.3 million Americans will take to planes, trains, automobiles and other modes of transportation during the year-end holiday period starting Saturday, Dec. 23 and ending Monday, Jan. 1. This will be the highest year-end travel volume on record, AAA says, and a 3.1% increase in travel volume compared with last year.
For the ninth year in a row, year-end holiday travel numbers continue to rise. Since 2005, total year-end holiday travel volume has grown by 21.6 million, an increase of more than 25%, AAA says.
"More expensive gas prices are not swaying holiday revelers to stay home," said Bill Sutherland, AAA senior vice president, Travel and Publishing, in a statement. "In fact, across the board this year, travel has increased year-over-year for every major holiday weekend — Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving — and we project the same for the year-end holiday period. We've seen the strong economy and growing consumer confidence fuel holiday travel all year long."
|By the numbers
Drivers will make up the majority of travelers at 97.4 million — a 3% increase from 2016. About 6.4 million people will take to the skies this holiday season, a 4.1% increase, and the fourth year of consecutive air travel volume increases, AAA says. Travel on trains, buses, rails and cruise ships will also increase by 2.2% to 3.6 million.
For the 90% of holiday travelers hitting the roads this season, those drivers will be hit with the most expensive year-end gas prices since 2014, and 28 cents higher than December of last year.
Holiday airfares are nearly 20% cheaper than last year, however, hitting a five-year low at $165 according to AAA's Leisure Travel Index.
Related: 15 fascinating characteristics and habits of American drivers
|Worst days and times to travel
AAA and INRIX say based on historical and recent travel trends, the worst time for drivers to travel will be Wednesday, Dec. 20 and Thursday, Dec. 21 — in the late afternoon as commuters leave work early and mix with holiday travelers. Researchers say for New York City drivers, travel times could increase triple-fold between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
AAA researchers recommend drivers try to avoid peak times altogether or consider alternative routes.
Here are the worst days and times to travel for 10 key metropolitan areas, according to AAA:
| Metro Area | Worst Day for Travel | Worst Time for Travel | Delay Multiplier |
| New York, NY | Wednesday, Dec. 20 | 3:30 – 5:30 PM | 3x |
| Los Angeles, CA | Wednesday, Dec. 20 | 3:30 – 6:00 PM | 2.5x |
| Washington, DC | Thursday, Dec. 21 | 3:00 – 6:00 PM | 2.5x |
| San Francisco, CA | Wednesday, Dec. 20 | 3:00 – 5:30 PM | 2x |
| Chicago, IL | Thursday, Dec. 21 | 4:00 – 6:00 PM | 2x |
| Boston, MA | Thursday, Dec. 21 | 2:30 – 4:30 PM | 2x |
| Seattle, WA | Wednesday, Dec. 20 | 4:00 – 6:00 PM | 2x |
| Atlanta, GA | Thursday, Dec. 21 | 4:30 – 6:30 PM | 1.5x |
| Houston, TX | Wednesday, Dec. 20 | 5:30 – 7:30 PM | 1.5x |
| Detroit, MI | Thursday, Dec. 21 | 3:00 – 5:30 PM | 1.5x |
| Source: INRIX |
|
Top 10 year-end holiday travel destinations
Orlando, Florida, and Anaheim, California, are the top holiday travel destinations for the second year in a row based on AAA.com bookings, the organization says. Montego Bay, Jamaica, is an increasingly popular vacation spot this year and is new to the top 10 list.
- |
- Orlando, Fla.
- Anaheim, Calif.
- Cancun, Mexico
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Kahului (Maui), Hawaii
- Montego Bay, Jamaica
- Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
- Miami, Fla.
- Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
- New York, N.Y.
Related: New Year's Eve risks by the numbers
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Danielle Ling
Danielle Ling is an experienced video journalist and business reporter. As associate editor, Danielle manages all multimedia and reports on industry news and risk-related coverage, managing all weather-related content. A University of Maryland and Philip Merrill College of Journalism alum, Danielle previously served as a video journalist for Verizon FiOS 1 News NJ, Push Pause. Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn or email her at [email protected].
