While the upcoming Memorial Day in the Fox Valley will likely be filled with the usual parades and family barbecues, it is also one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, one that local experts say could be record-setting for those traveling in cars and planes.
According to the AAA travel group, a record 45.1 million Americans are predicted to travel for Memorial Day weekend, breaking a 20-year-old record.
The group’s website said that would represent “a significant increase of 1.4 million travelers compared to 2024.”
Molly Hart, a spokesperson for AAA who represents both Illinois and Indiana, said “the big headline is that 87% of the people who are traveling this year during Memorial Day weekend are going by car.”
“We do our travel forecast from this Thursday, May 22, through Monday, May 26, so there’s going to be 87% traveling by car across the country,” she said of the group’s predictions. “Here in Illinois, we’ve got 1.9 million who are going to be in cars which is 50,000 more than a year ago.”
The total traveling by all methods is expected be 2.1 million people statewide this weekend, she said.
Hart said while the current increase in airfares might impact this year’s statistics, “people do want to travel. It’s a personal choice.”
“They do want to see their family and friends and yes, a plane ticket right now is more expensive than what it’s been in the past,” she said.
However, “Memorial Day is always a popular road trip weekend getaway,” she said.
Despite cost increases, popular flight destinations currently include Seattle or Orlando “because of the theme parks there (in Orlando) or Seattle which is a peak port destination to take a cruise to Alaska.”
“It’s peak season for Alaska cruises right now,” Hart said.
“As far as the increased numbers by car, the thing that’s fueling the spike now is even though things are a bit more expensive, the good news is that gas prices are down,” Hart said. “Here in Chicago, the average price is 59 cents less (per gallon) than it was a year ago.”
Hart insists that people want to travel this weekend despite “things like food being more expensive which means people may have to budget differently.”
More Top Picks Waterdrop Wd 10ua Under Sink
“Even though things are a little more expensive, people are still choosing to travel this weekend. It’s not stopping them from going somewhere,” Hart said.
Memorial Day and Thanksgiving remain the busiest holidays for traveling, Hart said.
“People do book Memorial Day travel in advance,” Hart said. “They’ve had this planned for a while and others might just do a last-minute thing to Michigan City or the north woods where people have a cabin or cottage.”
Tips for those traveling by car include the advice “to get up and go in the morning,” she said.
“Thursday and Friday, the roads are going to be super-congested by noon each day, so you really want to get up and hit the road,” Hart said. “It’d going to be congested nationally up until 8 or 9 p.m.”
Those coming back on Memorial Day itself are advised to leave before 2 p.m. or wait until after 7 p.m., Hart said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.