Patrick Djordjevic and Brooke Shaffer
7 minutes ago
(NewsNation) — As is customary, travel is expected to pick up as we approach the end of the week ahead of Independence Day on July 4th.
A record number of tourists are expected to visit between Friday and next Thursday's national holiday – 70 million to be exact.
The TSA expects to screen more than 32 million people between now and next weekend, with 3 million people expected to board planes this Friday.
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How many people are traveling?
AAA reported that 70 million people are expected to travel this year, 8% more than in 2019, before the pandemic.
“We expect this Fourth of July week to be our busiest ever, with 5.7 million more people traveling compared to 2019,” AAA senior vice president Paula Twidale said in the release.
With gas prices lower than this time last year, most people will be driving.
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Why the record numbers?
Clint Henderson, editor-in-chief of travel website The Points Guy, explained to NewsNation Now why travel experts expect this summer to be the busiest travel season ever.
“The last few summers have been incredibly expensive,” he said. “I think part of it is because demand was high and people were willing to pay the money, but also because airlines added more seats and capacity.”
“And now prices have stabilized and in some cases even fallen.”
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Will Boeing affect travel plans?
Airlines are facing difficulties as Boeing slows aircraft production, but travel is not expected to be affected this weekend.
Boeing was sanctioned by U.S. investigators for sharing information about a federal investigation into the Jan. 5 incident in which a door plug exploded during a flight in Portland, Oregon.
Experts tell NewsNation that ticket prices will likely be largely unaffected this holiday season, but that could change if productions continue to be delayed beyond the near future.
