Rewritten Article:
This festive season, get ready for a record-breaking number of travelers gracing our airports, as per AAA's forecasts. The holidays are shaping up to be the busiest on record, with an estimated 7.5 million passengers, surpassing the 7.3 million set in 2019. AAA mentions that ticket prices are slightly lower compared to the previous year.
Overall, around 115 million Americans intend to embark on trips over 50 miles away from their homes. This Make My Day! as AAA has been tracking travel since 2000, making it the second busiest festive season after the blessed year of 2019, albeit the one tainted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
AAA anticipates the hustle and bustle from December 23rd to January 1st.
Now, buckle up for the holiday road trip! It's safe to assume that the highways will see around 104 million drivers, a number second only to 2019. This foretells the colossal might of the automotive mass migration away from homebound turkeys and happy huddles.
Heed this advice to thwart gridlock during the rush fest. Take to the road after midday or post 19:00, and avoid traveling on Christmas Eve and New Year's Day, as INRIX, the traffic data hawk, points to these days as the least congested affair for merrymakers. If you insist on wading through the gridlock, Heiligabend and Erster Weihnachtsfeiertag might surprise you as they will be noticeably less chaotic.
However, the traffic rating queen, INRIX, is already anticipating the 23rd December and 28th December to top the charts as the gridlock Kings.
News barrels down on us that over 4 million travelers are expected to embrace alternative modes of travel like buses, trains, and ocean liners. This number eclipses the 3.89 million who opted for such modes of transportation in 2019.
Interested in something extra, you say? Fret not! Let us rip into some tidbits from the travel playbook:
Enrichment Data:
The holiday season's road traffic isn't mentioned directly in the cited sources. However, data from Inrix's 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard hints at aggravated traffic congestion in many urban areas, with each American driver losing 43 hours in traffic from the year's worth of gridlock, resulting in a $771 investment in time and productivity per person. This trend of traffic congestion could worsen in high-travel periods like the holidays.[1]
Even though AAA is not named in the available sources, their reputation as a prognosticator of travel forecasts and advice for annual events like the holidays is well-established. AAA typically sees a significant rise in road travel during Thanksgiving and Christmas, ultimately resulting in long waits on the highway and extended commuting durations.[2]
