39 Million Americans to Travel on Memorial Day Weekend, Nearing Pre-Pandemic Numbers

Photo: Getty

This Memorial Day weekend will be a busy one for travel nationwide.

“I think this year, especially with vaccines being readily available and many people being vaccinated, many people have a desire to travel,” Ragina Ali, spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, told theWashington Post. “Overwhelming, pent-up demand for people to resume some kind of normalcy seems to be outweighing the costs.”

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According to experts, rising prices are not stopping travelers as travel volumes are expected to reach 92% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Also per AAA, “the 8.3% increase [from 2021] will be the second highest growth in travelers for this holiday weekend since 2010 and will bring total travel volume in line with 2017.”

Over 3 million people will likely be flying this weekend, a 25% increase compared to 2021, but still making up just 7.7% of total travelers.

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As for the prices, flying will also present significant cost increases compared to previous years. On coverage from theTODAY Show, the Hopper apps said the average domestic flight for this weekend costs $394, a 28% increase compared to Memorial Day before the pandemic in 2019.

As for the other modes of transportation, 1.3 million people are expected to take buses, trains and cruise ships.

source: people.com