According to American Automobile Association (AAA) Between December 23 and January 2, 112.7 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home. That is an increase of 3.6 million over the previous year and is getting close to pre-pandemic levels. Since AAA started keeping track in 2000, 2022 is predicted to be the third busiest year for holiday travel.
The fact that Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on Sundays this year may result in longer travel times, according to Paula Twidale, senior vice president of travel at AAA. Because they may work remotely at their destination and have more flexibility with their trip dates thanks to hybrid work schedules, more people are taking long weekends off.
Nearly 102 million Americans will travel by car over the holidays. Despite gas costs that will fluctuate wildly in 2022, there will be 2 million more drivers this holiday season than there were in 2021. This year’s car travel is comparable to that of 2018, but it falls short of the record-breaking year of 2019 when 108 million Americans traveled out of town for the holidays.
Nearly 7.2 million Americans are anticipated to fly, a 14% increase over last year. This holiday season, airports and flights will be crowded, evoking pre-pandemic conditions. Despite rising flight ticket rates, demand for flights has increased. According to AAA, the number of Americans flying for the holidays this year will be almost as high as the 7.3 million Americans who flew in 2019.
Chart showed that US traveller using mode of transport during end of 2022 holiday season /world property journal.
In order to spend as much time at their destination as possible, more people are flying when the distance is too great to travel by car, according to Twidale. On the other hand, if the distances are manageable and more than one or two people from the family are traveling, driving might be a more economical option than renting a car, purchasing several plane tickets, or spending too much money before the fun even starts.
In a large manner, other forms of transportation are also bouncing back. This Christmas season, according to AAA, there will be an increase in travel by bus, rail, and cruise ship of 3.6 million, a 23% increase from the previous year and over 94% of the volume of 2019.
