AAA: 35M on highways for holiday, despite record gas prices

Record high gas prices are not dampening travel plans, with nearly 35 million Americans expected to hit the road during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, 1.5 million more than last year, according to AAA Northeast.

Americans are embracing this year’s unofficial kickoff to the summer season with bottled-up travel demand, even as fuel prices continue to hit record highs, AAA, the auto club and insurance company, predicted in its travel forecast released Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 3 million passengers are predicted to fly, while another 1.3 million likely will choose buses, trains and cruise ships.

“In looking at the numbers and how things are coming back, it’s an indication that number one, the economy is recovering somewhat, despite the high gasoline prices,” said Robert Sinclair Jr., AAA Northeast spokesman. “There is still a lot of pent-up demand with people, coupled up with COVID restrictions for the last two years.”

The average price of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline jumped to $4.483 on May 16, according to AAA. That's the highest since AAA began tracking prices in 2000. The new mark surpassed a record set on March 11.

In New York, gas prices jumped to $4.759 a gallon, and on Long Island, it cost an average of $4.779 to fill up in Suffolk and in Nassau counties, according to AAA. Still, driving will remain the most popular mode of getting around from May 26 to May 30, with 4.6% more than last year.

More than 39 million Americans are expected to trek more than 50 miles or more from home, according to the forecast. That’s 3.6 million short of 2019, but would surpass last year’s 36.2 million.

The Transportation Security Administration also is gearing up for a busy summer season that will match or exceed 2019 numbers. There were about 2.4 million passengers screened at U.S. airports on May 15, about 8.6% fewer than the same day in 2019, according to TSA checkpoint data.

Ellen Volpe and Tori Tomasheski, co-owners of ET Family Travel based in Nassau County, said there’s been a fivefold surge in bookings since last year’s Memorial Day weekend, and Walt Disney World in Florida is a No. 1 pick for families.

“The demand for Disney is huge. People have been putting off these trips that they promised their kids for over two years and everyone is looking to check that off their bucket trip list,” Tomasheski said.

The travel resurgence will come with a sticker shock. Prices for AAA triple- and two-diamond-rated hotels are up 42% across the country. A three-diamond hotel costs an average of $257 a night, while a two-diamond hotel costs $199, according to AAA. Round-trip domestic air tickets also are up 6%.

Meanwhile, consumer spending is expected to climb more than 9% in the second quarter, despite falling consumer sentiment, according to AAA.

While COVID-19 risk of infection remains low in most of the country, virus transmission is high in many areas of New York, as well as in New Jersey, Delaware and the New England region, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long Island's community level risk is also high in both counties, but hospitalizations and deaths remain low.

“People have weighed the risks and rewards of travel, and many have chosen to live life to the fullest after coming out of such a dark time,” Volpe said.

Drivers hoping to beat some of the travel rush should start their trips early in the morning, Sinclair said. A 51% increase in westbound traffic is expected on the Long Island Expressway from Nassau County near exit 44 down to exit 16 in Queens on May 26, according to AAA and INRIX data, a Kirkland, Washington, transportation analytics firm. Drivers heading east on the LIE through Queens that same day will fare even worse, with a projected 160% traffic spike from exits 13 to exits 32.

AAA also projects there will be 10% to 15% more service calls for car-related issues this year than last.