By More than 50 million Americans are expected to travel over 50 miles from their homes for this year’s Fourth of July holiday, which could break the prepandemic record for Independence Day travel according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
AAA predicts that the majority of Americans will choose to travel by car (43.2 million) or plane (4.17 million) for the holiday weekend. However, more than three million people are expected to travel by bus, cruise, or train for July Fourth, a 24% increase from 2020 levels.
“We’ve never projected travel numbers this high for Independence Day weekend,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel. “What this tells us is that despite inventory being limited and some prices 50% higher, consumers are not cutting back on travel this summer.”
American consumers are taking part in the ‘revenge travel’ trend from last summer, when people took road trips and vacations by plane for experiences they couldn’t do during the pandemic. However, new this year: gasoline is far less expensive. Prices averaged $3.57 a gallon on Monday, down from $4.90 one year ago.
The Fourth of July falls on a Tuesday this year, which encourages people to take long weekend trips.
Overall, AAA projects that travel over the July 4th holiday weekend in the US is forecast to beat 2019 numbers and reach a record.
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