According to AAA, about 45.1 million people will travel more than 50 miles from home during the Memorial Day holiday. 

The holiday officially runs from Thursday through Monday at midnight. The project number of people traveling is an increase of 1.4 million travelers from the 2024 holiday travel period. This weekend is expected to be the busiest Memorial Day weekend since 2005 when more than 44 million travelers left home for the holiday.  

“Memorial Day weekend getaways don’t have to be extravagant and costly,” said Clay Ingram, spokesperson for AAA Alabama. “While some travelers embark on dream vacations and fly hundreds of miles across the country, many families just pack up the car and drive to the beach or take a road trip to visit friends. Long holiday weekends are ideal for travel because many people have an extra day off work and students are off from school.”

The vast majority of travelers are expected to hit the road. AAA projects 39.4 million Americans will travel by car, which is about a million more people than last year. Ingram said people were more likely to take advantage of cheaper gas prices, $3.19 nationally and $2.74 in Alabama, compared to last year’s $3.59 per gallon national average, when planning holiday travel. 

AAA also predicts about 3.6 million people will travel by air this year, about a 2 percent increase over last year’s 3.55 million air travelers. About 2 million people will travel by other modes of transportation, including train, bus or a cruise ship.