Holiday traffic will be the worst it’s been since 2019

AAA is projecting 119.3 million people will travel 50 miles or more to celebrate the holidays this year. Compare that to the nearly 80 million who traveled Thanksgiving weekend.

That’s 3 million more people than last year and it’s going to mean bigger crowds on the roads and the airports, but the good news is that will be a bit more spaced out, so if you time things right, it might not feel that way. The AAA projection covers the period from Dec. 21 through Jan. 1.

It’s also a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Air-travel will set new records, AAA says, with 7.85 million passengers, despite the average plane ticket being 4% more expensive. The average domestic ticket now costs $830. The number of people on a bus, train or cruise will be 10% higher than last year—with domestic cruise bookings up 37% compared to a year ago.

The highways, meanwhile, will see an additional 2.5 million people driving to and from home.

Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, though, which is going to shake things up even more than usual. Planning on hitting the road? Here are the best and worst travel times overall, according to AAA.