Travel increase expected over Fourth of July holiday

SAN ANTONIO – The Fourth of July is expected to bring millions of people out of their homes and onto the roads for holiday travel.

As the holiday celebrations get bigger, so do the gas station demands.

James Gunter, the general manager at the Flying J gas station on I-10 and Foster Rd, told KSAT he’s ready for all things holiday travel.

“We’re a 24-hour store,” Gunter said. “There’s a great demand for merchandise. This is a huge stop.”

AAA predicts nearly 71 million people will travel 50 or more miles away from home during the July 4 travel period, which is from June 29 to July 7, 2024.

It’s an expected 5% increase from 2023, with a projected 60 million people traveling by car.

“Lots of traffic,” Syndeity Ortiz said. Ortiz was stopping to get a drink at the Flying J. “We ran into pretty good traffic in Houston, actually,” she said.

“The foot traffic here has been pretty intense,” Gunter said. “We’ve definitely seen a huge spike in sales, both in hot food sales and retail sales.”

AAA has a family road trip checklist you can find here for your travel needs this Fourth of July.