RICHMOND, VA (December 12, 2022) – ’Tis the season to travel, and AAA estimates 112.7 million people will journey 50 miles or more away from home from December 23 to January 2. That’s an increase of 3.6 million people over last year and closing in on pre-pandemic numbers. 2022 is expected to be the third busiest year for holiday travel since AAA began tracking in 2000.
“This year, travel time will be extended due to Christmas Day and New Year’s Day falling on Sundays,” says Morgan Dean, Public and Government Affairs Manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “With hybrid work schedules, we are seeing more people take long weekends to travel because they can work remotely at their destination and be more flexible with the days they depart and return.”
Auto Travel and Gas Prices
Nearly 102 million Americans will drive to their holiday destinations. This holiday season will see an additional 2 million people on the roads, a two percent increase compared to 2021. Travel by car this year is on par with 2018 but shy of 2019 when 108 million Americans drove out of town for the holidays, the highest year on record.“Gas prices have been on a roller coaster ride throughout 2022, but have recently settled back down to 2021 levels,” adds Dean. In fact, the national average on Sunday (12/11) was $3.27, a 14-cent dip from last week and six cents less than year ago prices. Virginia’s average of $3.14 is down 13 cents in the past week and 37 cents in the past month. Sunday’s Virginia state gas price average is six cents less than the price drivers were paying one year ago. “As demand remains low and supplies grow, drivers will likely continue to see pump prices decline through this week. This is the first time we have seen gas prices lower than the same date the previous year since February, 2021,” Dean says.
Air Travel and Other Modes
Air travel will see a 14% increase over last year, with nearly 7.2 million Americans expected to fly. Flights and airports will be packed this holiday season, reminiscent of pre-pandemic days. Demand for flights has surged despite higher airline ticket prices. AAA expects the number of people taking holiday flights this year will come close to matching 2019 when 7.3 million Americans traveled by air.
“The TSA reports screening more than 2.5 million people at U.S. airports on the Sunday after Thanksgiving,” adds Dean. “That’s the highest number of travelers that screeners have seen since the start of the pandemic and a sure sign that air travel is getting back closer to normal.”
Other modes of transportation are also rebounding in a big way. AAA estimates travel by bus, rail, and cruise ship will rise to 3.6 million this holiday season, a 23% increase from last year and nearly 94% of 2019’s volume.