Georgia will set a third consecutive holiday travel record in 2024, AAA projects.
About 3.7 million Georgians — nearly 109,000 more than last year’s record — will travel at least 50 miles from home, according to the forecast conducted by S&P Global Market Intelligence. This follows a busy Thanksgiving travel season just a few weeks ago.
Nationally, AAA predicts a record 119.3 million people will leave home between Dec. 21 and New Year’s Day, driven by a recent cooling of inflation and strong employment. Air travel will hit its own record, even though flight prices are 4% higher than last year.
Airline trade association A4A is also projecting record air travel this season, and U.S. airlines have added 140,000 more daily seats in response.
But 90% of holiday travelers will drive to their destinations this year, and Georgians will set their own record on the roads, the company says. That’s even though national road travel is projected to fall below a 2019 high water mark.
Travelers, “particularly families with young children, prefer the flexibility and lower cost of road trips,” Montrae Waiters, a AAA spokesperson said in a statement. State gas prices are about 10 cents below this time last year and 10 cents below the current national average, per AAA.
Avoid driving the weekends before Christmas and New Year’s. That’s when the worst road traffic delays are expected across the country, estimates transportation data company INRIX.
Credit: John Spink/AJC
Credit: John Spink/AJC
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