AAA: 98.6 Million Americans Traveling this Holiday Season, Four Percent More Than Last Year
ORLANDO, Fla., (December 16, 2014) – AAA projects 98.6 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the year-end holiday season, an increase of four percent from the 94.8 million people who traveled last year. This upward trend marks the highest forecast growth rate for the year-end holiday season since 2009 and the highest travel volume for the holiday period on record. (AAA data dates back to 2001.) The year-end holiday period is defined as Tuesday, December 23 to Sunday, January 4.
Highlights from 2014/2015 Year-End Holiday Travel Forecast:
- Holiday travel is expected to total 98.6 million, an increase of four percent from the 94.8 million who traveled last year.
- Travel volume for the year-end holidays will reach the highest peak recorded by AAA (since 2001).
- Nearly 91 percent of all travelers (89.5 million) will celebrate the holidays with a road trip, an increase of 4.2 percent from 2013.
- Air travel is forecast to grow one percent from 2013, with 5.7 million travelers taking to the skies.
- Low gas prices continue to help boost disposable income this holiday season, with today’s national average price of gas at $2.53 per gallon, 70 cents less than a year ago.
(WASHINGTON, December 22, 2014) The steady decline in gas prices this autumn is now longer than any period AAA has previously tracked. The national average price of gas has declined for 88 days in a row, which is the longest consecutive streak on record. Gas prices have fallen every day since September 25 to today’s average of $2.39, which is the lowest average price per gallon since May 2009. On Sunday, the decline in gas prices broke the previous record of 86 days set in 2008 during the height of the Great Recession.
