Whether it’s by road, air, or sea, AAA expects Delawareans to travel at or near record levels this holiday season.
AAA projects more than 334,000 Delawareans will travel over the year-end holidays from December 23rd through January 1st. That’s a 2.6% increase over last year.
"AAA is expecting the second highest holiday travel volume this year for the Christmas to New Year's holiday period on record, and that's only behind 2019 which of course we all benchmark as pre-pandemic levels,” said Tidwell. “That year the economy was strong and people wanted to travel. It was part of the holiday tradition."
That’s AAA’s Jana Tidwell. She adds over 300,000 Delawareans will hit the road to travel at least 50 miles or more - a 2% increase over 2022.
Tidwell says one benefit for those driving is lower gas prices which hit $2.96 on average in Delaware on Monday.
"That's 11 cents lower than it was this time last year and it's actually hovering at the lowest price we've seen for gas in the past 2 years so that is definitely welcome news to motorists who are going to be traveling for the holiday period," said Tidwell.
The gas prices are also down almost 20 cents from a month ago.
Tidwell suggests traveling during off-peak hours if you can.
That would be before 10 am on December 23rd, all day on the 24th and 25th, before noon from the 26th through 30th, and then all day on the 31st and January 1st.
Local air travel volume will be the highest on record with over 18,000 flying to their destination - up 5% increase from last year. That’s helped by average ticket prices being slightly lower than last year according to AAA.
The biggest jump is for those going by other means, such as train, bus, and cruise. Over 15,000 are traveling through those means, a 9% increase over last year.
