ORLANDO, Fla. – Christmas is two weeks away, and AAA is predicting that 115 million Americans will be traveling this year for the holidays.
According to AAA, 115 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home from December 23 through New Years Day, 2.2% more than last year.
Airports are expected to be the busiest they’ve ever been throughout the Christmas and New Year’s travel period.
In Florida, AAA is expecting a record travel season, with more than 6 million Floridians expected to drive to their holiday destinations.
About 356,000 Floridians are expected to fly, and 266,000 will travel either on a bus, a train or a cruise ship.
“AAA is projecting 115 million Americans to be traveling over the holiday period. Nearly 104 million of those people will be driving. Seven-and-a-half million are expected to fly. And then there is a 4 million number, and those are the people who are traveling by other modes: bus, train and cruise,” said Aixa Diaz, of AAA.
Despite inflation, AAA said roads, airports, and cruise lines will be more crowded than normal this holiday season.
“There’s this pent-up demand post-pandemic for travel. And now people are sort of more than ever recognizing how important leisure travel is to them. So, whether that’s taking a vacation that’s relaxing, whether that’s visiting family and friends out of state or even going abroad, that desire to get away is stronger than we’ve seen in a very long time,” Diaz said.
AAA expects Saturday, December 23 and Thursday, December 28, to be the busiest days on the roads.