{"id":205840,"date":"2026-05-13T20:36:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=205840"},"modified":"2026-05-13T20:36:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:36:57","slug":"aaa-memorial-day-travel-could-could-set-new-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/05\/13\/aaa-memorial-day-travel-could-could-set-new-records\/","title":{"rendered":"AAA: Memorial Day travel could could set new records"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Even with gas prices expected to remain very high, AAA is predicting 45 million people will hit the road during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday period, May 21-25. AAA photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears as though high gas prices won\u2019t deter people from traveling during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAA projects 45 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home for Memorial Day between Thursday, May 21 and Monday, May 25. This year\u2019s domestic travel forecast is slightly higher than last year and sets a new Memorial Day weekend record with 39.1 million people traveling by car and 3.66 million expected to fly to their destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel in AAA\u2019s East Central region, which includes Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, is expected to be nearly identical to last year, with approximately 6.9 million people expected to travel during the five day holiday period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While gas prices are higher than last Memorial Day weekend, average ticket prices for flights are lower than last year for those who booked early. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMemorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, and for most Americans, it\u2019s a three-day weekend,\u201d said Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel. \u201cTravel demand remains strong, and despite higher fuel prices, many people are prioritizing leisure travel during holiday breaks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Driving is the most popular way to travel and makes up 87 percent of the share of Memorial Day travelers. Drivers are paying more at the pump compared to last year when the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.17 on Memorial Day. Currently, pump prices are the highest they\u2019ve been since the summer of 2022.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a record number of travelers on the road\u00a0this holiday weekend, AAA reminds drivers\u00a0to put safety first,\u00a0Slow\u00a0Down,\u00a0Move\u00a0Over, and\u00a0drive sober. Before hitting the road, check your car\u2019s battery, tire pressure, and fluids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air travelers make up eight percent of the share of travelers this holiday weekend.\u00a0According to AAA data,\u00a0which is\u00a0based on what travelers paid when they booked their\u00a0Memorial Day weekend trips,\u00a0roundtrip domestic flights are\u00a0six percent\u00a0cheaper\u00a0compared to\u00a0last year, with an average ticket costing $800. Most of those trips were booked before rising jet fuel prices started affecting airfare.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel by other modes is expected to go up by five percent, with 2.2 million people traveling by bus, train, or cruise over Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent staff\/submitted information It appears as though high gas prices won\u2019t deter people from traveling during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend. AAA projects 45 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home for Memorial Day between Thursday, May 21 and Monday, May 25. This year\u2019s domestic travel forecast is slightly higher […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-topstory"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-21 05:28:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205840"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205845,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205840\/revisions\/205845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}