AAA predicts this year’s holiday season will be the busiest season on record for air travel.
December 18, 2023 6:17am
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Millions of Americans are preparing to hit the highways and take to the skies ahead of the holidays.
Here’s what you need to know before packing your belongings.
vacation travel by plane
AAA predicts that this holiday season will be the busiest ever for air travel, with 7.5 million people expected to take to the air between Saturday, December 23rd and Monday, January 1st. This would beat the previous record of 7.3 million flyers sold during the 2019 holiday season. .
Thursday, Dec. 21 and Friday, Dec. 22 are expected to be the busiest days for departures, Hopper said.
Domestic airfare averages $349 round trip, 3% more than last year, Hopper said.
Air ABC News Photo Illustration, Hopper, Holiday Travel by AAA
Hopper said the cheapest days to fly are Dec. 19, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The most expensive days are December 22nd and December 26th.
United Airlines said it expects its busiest holiday travel season ever, with about 9 million passengers scheduled to fly between Dec. 21 and Jan. 8, up 12% from last year.
United Airlines said it expects Dec. 22 and Dec. 23 to be the busiest for Christmas travel, and Jan. 2 for New Year’s travel.
Delta Air Lines is preparing to welcome nearly 9 million customers during the holiday travel period, which runs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 7.
Delta Air Lines said it expects peak days to be Dec. 21 to Dec. 22 and Dec. 26 to Dec. 30.
holiday overland travel
Holiday road trip ABC news photo illustration, AAA, INRIX
AAA predicts that 104 million people will be out and about over the holidays, up 1.8% from last year.
The busiest day is expected to be Saturday, December 23rd. Thursday, December 28th. Saturday, Dec. 30, according to traffic analysis firm INRIX.
According to INRIX, if you’re leaving for vacation on December 23rd, the best time to leave the house is before 10am. Also, if you are returning home the day after Christmas, INRIX said the roads are at their clearest before noon.
