AAA estimates record-high holiday travel on Georgia’s roads
AAA estimates over 3.5 million Georgians will be traveling 50 miles or more away from home for the holidays this year.
That’s a new record-high for the year-end holiday travel period in Georgia — an increase of almost 113,000 people over last year.
National travel figures are also stronger than last year, yet slightly lower than pre-pandemic levels.
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AAA estimates 112.7 million Americans will be traveling during the year-end holidays.
That’s an increase of 3.6 million compared to last year, and the third-busiest since AAA began tracking in 2000.
About 90% of holiday travelers will drive to their destinations and air travel will see a 14% increase over last year, with nearly 7.2 million Americans expected to fly.
Lower prices as the pump are helping drivers.
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On Sunday, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in Georgia was $2.88. That’s 27 cents per gallon less than a year ago.
“Since most Americans have already made their holiday travel plans, these plunging pump prices may not necessarily lead to more auto travelers,” said Montrae Waiters, spokeswoman for AAA, The Auto Club Group. “What we often see instead is consumers reallocating the added savings; spending more on hotels, shopping and dining out.”
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While the price of gasoline is down from last year, airfares cost 6% more and hotels cost 5% more over last year.
Car rentals saw the biggest drop in cost over last year, down 19%.
For the purposes of AAA’s travel forecast, the year-end holiday travel period is defined as the 11-day period from Friday, Dec. 23rd to Monday, Jan. 2nd.
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