This story was reported and written by VPM News.
It’s expected to be a record-breaking year of holiday travel. VPM News’ Megan Pauly discussed the season with AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson Morgan Dean about the numbers — and what to expect about transit.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the big takeaways for holiday travel this year?
Morgan Dean: When looking at the year-end numbers this year — both at the national level and in Virginia — we're looking to see records out there for travel: 119 million at the national level and about 3.3 million here in Virginia. We've been tracking these travel forecasts for the holidays for 23 years now, and these are the highest numbers that we've ever seen.
One quick look at the TSA checkpoint numbers across the country this year tells the story of what 2024 has looked like. It has been the year of air travel. All 10 of the busiest travel volume days in the history of the TSA have all happened on dates here in 2024. So, 2024 has been the biggest year of air travel that the TSA has ever seen, going back to their start, to 2002-2003. The only year that we've clocked more air travelers than this year would be way back in 2003 — more than 20 years ago.
What’s contributing to this projected record-breaking travel year?
I think for a lot of people, the pandemic seems like a long time ago, and in general, it was. But we are still on that comeback tour, if you will. 2020 was such an interruption to everything. 2019 was a very big travel year. 2020 — with a lot of the indicators we had before the pandemic hit — was going to be an even bigger year. And then, of course, everything got canceled or pulled back or was shortened or wasn't quite the same trip.
But a lot of people sat around for the next year and a half to two years while the pandemic was still a factor, dreaming about what they were going to do when the pandemic was over with. And we are continuing to see that. They're getting in international trips. They're doing cruises. There are a lot of trips that people are still getting in in these years after the pandemic.
Any other interesting findings from the Virginia travel data worth noting?
Cruise numbers have been very, very big this year, and that category has seen some pretty big numbers compared to previous years. We're talking about 177,000 people traveling in that category in Virginia. That's up from 157,000 last year, and up from 136,000 back in the pre-pandemic days of 2019. That's a jump of 29% from back in the pre-pandemic days.
So, it's really showing us that there's been a huge interest in cruising. When we looked at AAA bookings for cruises at year-end here, compared to last year, they're up about 37%.
What do you expect to be some of the busiest travel days of the year?
We're expecting that driving Dec. 22 could be a very, very busy day, because people are trying to get to their destinations before the holidays. Our recommendation for drivers is to leave that morning before the traffic builds up in the afternoon. If you can't leave in the morning, plan to leave in the evening, if you don't mind driving after dark.
One nice recommendation is, if you don't have to be to your destination before the holiday, sometimes traveling on the holiday itself — Christmas Day, New Year's Day — you may not see much traffic at all. There's just not as many people trying to get there on the holiday itself.
For the folks that are flying it's going to be a busy time period going from this weekend all the way through New Year's, you're going to see a lot of people flying out there with lots of people trying to get out of town between Dec. 26 and Dec. 29.
Based on previous years, those were pretty busy days at the airport, and we think that there's going to be a good bit of that happening during this holiday year-end season, as well, especially as a lot of people get through the holidays, celebrate with family and then jet off to perhaps a vacation to get in one more trip before the calendar rolls over to 2025.
What’s your travel advice for folks hitting the road this year?
Give that car the onceover before you hit the roadway: You want to check that battery, make sure there's no corrosion on it. You want to go over your tires, make sure they're pumped up to the right pressure; not the pressure on the side wall listed there, but the one that's on the inside of the driver's side door.
And make sure you've got good tread on your tires and that they're not wearing unevenly, especially if you're going to an area that there's the potential of snow. That's what clears that slush and helps you get down to the pavement, to give you as much stopping ability as you need when you're driving on those roadways.
Another big thing to check out before you leave: check and make sure you have good windshield wipers. Drivers tend to take windshield wipers for granted until they need them.
I think the best thing for drivers to think about is what all those drivers went through on Interstate 95 just a couple of years ago, and that was right after Christmas break. Some people were actually stuck in that, trying to drive home from their holiday breaks.
So, what would you like to have in your car that could be helpful if you were stopped for a long period of time in a delay like that?
Those are the kinds of things that you need to have in there. A few things to take care of your car in the snow, like an ice scraper with a brush on it, kitty litter or sand for traction. Jumper cables and a jump box if you need to start your car, a flashlight, a small kit of tools and some first aid kits.
But don't forget, you need to take care of everybody in that car as well. Have some extra blankets, some extra jackets, gloves, snacks and water for everybody in the vehicle, and a backup way to charge your cellphone.
If you're traveling with pets, remember to have some pet food or snacks in the car as well for them. And if you have kids in the back seat, having some crayons, having some coloring books and some other things might be a good thing if there's an extended stop and you want to keep them happy in the back seat.
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