Americans Are Expected to Set Travel Record on Memorial Day Weekend

Travelers are taking to the roads and skies in high numbers this year, even as severe weather may put a damper on some of their plans.

Travelers at San Diego International Airport on March 20, 2025. Jane Yang/The Epoch Times

Between trips along the nation’s highways and byways or flights high in the sky, Americans are determined to travel in what may be record numbers this year for Memorial Day weekend.

Roughly 45.1 million of them are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home between May 22 and May 26 for the long weekend, according to projections from the auto club organization AAA. If the forecast holds, that will be an increase of 1.4 million travelers from last year, and a new record since 2005, when 44 million ventured out for the holiday that honors those who died while serving in the U.S. military.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects the busiest summer in the last 15 years, with flight numbers increasing week by week until they reach their peak between July and August. The agency anticipates hundreds of thousands of flights through the weekend.

Even amid what some analysts describe as a climate of economic uncertainty, Americans are not letting a fluctuating market or looming trade negotiations stop them from celebrating the holiday that is recognized as the unofficial start of summer.

With so many off work and school, holiday travel overall has been surging to new records over the previous years following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many Americans are craving “experiences over material things,” said AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz.

“Travel is a personal and emotional decision,” Diaz told The Epoch Times. “Trips don’t have to be costly. Travel can be as simple as packing up the car, driving to a nearby beach or lake, and staying with family and friends.”

Gasoline prices are dropping. As of May 22, the current U.S. average gasoline price is $3.195, down from $3.61 a year ago, according to AAA.

Severe weather in multiple states could affect vacation plans.

Here’s what to expect from Memorial Day travel in 2025.

On the Road

Roughly 39.4 million people are projected to hit the open road this year for Memorial Day weekend, which is an additional one million travelers than in 2024, according to AAA.

That means 87 percent of Americans traveling this weekend will opt to drive instead of other modes of transportation, in part because of the lower gas prices.

Road trips are also easy, offer flexibility, and are a more viable option for most people, Diaz noted.

And since some students will be due back in school on Tuesday, others opt to drive to destinations “closer to home over the long weekend,” she said.

Car rentals for Memorial Day travel are averaging $44 per day, which is in line with last year’s prices, according to the online travel marketplace Hopper. Americans are renting cars for roughly four days total.

Hertz, a AAA car rental partner, said Friday is expected to be the busiest pickup day, with SUVs being among the most popular rental vehicles for the weekend travel. The cities with the highest demand for rental cars include Orlando, Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, and Seattle.

INRIX, a provider of transportation data and analysis, expects the afternoon hours to see the most road traffic. Morning hours should contain less congestion, particularly in major metropolitan areas.

Cities like Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Washington could have the heaviest traffic this weekend, INRIX said.

In the Air

Despite some growing concerns over commercial aviation, particularly after repeat air traffic control system failures at one of the nation’s busiest airports, the FAA is expecting the busiest summer for air travel in the last 15 years.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to book flights for this weekend, the agency said.

AAA is anticipating an increase in Memorial Day weekend air travel from last year, when 3.55 million travelers chose to fly to their destinations. This year, 3.61 million Americans are projected to take to the skies, a 2 percent increase from 2024.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen roughly 18 million passengers between May 22 and May 28 this year, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Last year, the TSA said the Friday before Memorial Day broke a record for the most travelers screened in a single day. This surpassed the agency’s previous record set in 2023 on the Sunday following Thanksgiving.

Luckily, prices on air travel are only up an average of $2 per ticket, according to Hopper. This year, the average airfare for the long Memorial Day weekend is roughly $258 per round-trip ticket.

Hopper said the most popular destination cities are Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Chicago, Hopper said. The five airports expected to get the most traffic are Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago O’Hare, Denver, and Los Angeles.

Since flights departing after 9 a.m. are twice as likely to be delayed as departures scheduled between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., Hopper recommends that travelers depart as early in the morning as possible.

Also, travelers flying in and out of Newark Airport should be aware of the FAA’s ongoing slowdown of traffic there. Hourly flights have been reduced as a critical runway construction continues, and after recent system failures at the air traffic control facility that handles the airport’s radar.

Weather Outlook

Many of the areas that have been seeing severe weather over the past week may see heavy rain and thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service. That includes around the Ozarks extending into the central and southern Plains through the Mid-South.

Travelers are advised to plan ahead and avoid driving on flooded roadways.

Based on current AccuWeather forecasts, there’s an increased tornado risk later in the weekend, and severe weather could begin in the central Plains before moving eastward to the South Central states by Sunday. These storms could bring hail, strong wind gusts, and flash flooding, which poses risks to drivers and campers near waterways.

On Memorial Day, thunderstorms could affect the Southeast from the lower part of the Mississippi River to Georgia and the Carolinas.

AccuWeather senior meteorologist John Feerick said that several areas, like southeast Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas, may get hit with thunderstorms repeatedly over the weekend, which could have a snowball effect on flash flooding.

“Flooding is obviously one of the big killers, so people have to be aware,” Feerick told The Epoch Times. Anyone out on the roads should avoid driving through high water and find alternative routes, he said.

There’s also a May nor’easter creeping across the north from the Midwest into the Northeast this week, AccuWeather reported. The storm is forecast to drop several inches of rain on multiple states across the Northeast. Americans in a region stretching from the Dakotas to the Atlantic coast down to the Appalachians could see temperatures 5–15 degrees below average.

Feerick said the South is expected to be hotter than average this weekend, from South Texas through Florida.

“So, compared to average, it’s maybe not going to be quite as shocking. But still, it’s probably going to be 5–10 degrees above average,” he said.

As for the regions that may see the most vacation-friendly weather for Memorial Day weekend, Feerick pointed to the Southwest, including southern California, and the Gulf Coast, stretching from Houston to South Florida.

While these areas may see higher temperatures than average, “it doesn’t look like there’s going to be much in terms of thunderstorms.”

The mid-Atlantic near the nation’s capital may see cooler temperatures, but will be mostly dry this weekend, he said.