AAA Fourth Of July Travel Projections: Plan Ahead

With the Fourth of July landing on a weekday this year, prepare for a busy travel week. Highways will be packed with families on road trips and airports will be filled with travelers heading out for their holiday adventures. The AAA projects 70.9 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Independence Day holiday travel period.

Fourth of July week travel projections from AAA

For the first time, AAA looked at the entire holiday week, plus the Saturday before and the Sunday after the holiday. This year’s projected number of travelers for that time period is a 5% increase compared to 2023 and an 8% increase over 2019, they said.

“With summer vacations in full swing and the flexibility of remote work, more Americans are taking extended trips around Independence Day,” said Paula Twidale, Senior Vice President of AAA Travel. “We anticipate this July 4th week will be the busiest ever with an additional 5.7 million people traveling compared to 2019.”  

AAA projects a record 60.6 million people will travel by car over Independence Day week. The company’s car rental partner Hertz says Dallas, Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco are the cities with the highest rental demand during the holiday week. The busiest pick-up days are projected to be Friday, June 28, Saturday, June 29, and Wednesday, July 3. 

They also point out that gas prices are lower than last year when the national average was $3.53. Pump prices will likely continue going down leading up to Independence Day.  At that point, they will likely level off and remain “relatively stable” until after Labor Day. 

The number of air travelers is also expected to set a new record. AAA projects 5.74 million people will fly to their Fourth of July destinations. Airports will be packed throughout the week. They recommend arriving 2 hours early, reserving parking ahead of time, and traveling with carry-on luggage versus checked bags to save time and money.  

More than 4.6 million people are expected to travel by other modes of transportation, including buses, cruises, and trains.

The best and worst times to travel

INRIX, a provider of transportation data and insights, says the worst times to travel by car before and on July 4 are between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Drivers should hit the road in the morning, and travelers returning on Monday, July 8 should avoid rush hour traffic in the morning and afternoon.  Get more AAA travel insights and predictions here.

Kayla is the midday host on Detroit’s 105.1 The Bounce. She started her career in radio back in 2016 as an intern at another Detroit station and worked her way here. She’s made stops in Knoxville, TN, Omaha, Ne and other places before returning to Detroit. She’s done almost everything in radio from promotions to web, creating content on social media, you name it.

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