ORLANDO, Fla. — With Independence Day fast approaching, AAA has released a strong prediction for 2024 travel.
AAA defines the Independence Day holiday travel period as the nine-day period between June 29th and July 7th.
The car club said it expects there to be more cars on the roads in Florida and across the U.S. than in recent years.
Let's start with the big picture.
According to AAA, about 71 million people nationwide will be relocated at least 50 miles from their homes.
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That's a projected 3.5 million more people than traveled during the 2023 Independence Day holiday.
The majority of them (about 60 million) will travel by car, while nearly 6 million plan to take their holidays by plane.
Florida residents are also expected to travel more than 50 miles from home in the Sunshine State each year.
About 4.5 million Floridians are expected to take to the road starting June 29, about 300,000 more than a year ago and about 1 million more than in 2022.
Although far fewer Floridians are expected to fly than drive during this travel period, air travel is also projected to be higher than in recent years.
“The summer travel season is off to a strong start and we expect to see new travel records set during Independence Day week, both by ground and air,” said Debbie Haas, AAA vice president of travel.
It will be interesting to see how gas prices compare to recent years, but so far things are looking good.
Nationwide, gasoline prices averaged $3.32 a gallon in June, about 9 cents lower than the same period in 2023, according to AAA.
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Will prices stay lower? That remains to be seen.
“Oil prices certainly recovered somewhat last week,” AAA's Mark Jenkins said Monday, adding that “this could halt the freefall at the pump.”
Click here to see gas prices in any zip code, near or far, this Fourth of July travel season.
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