While fireworks will be bursting into the sky this Fourth of July, there will also be plenty of activity for travelers on the roads over the holiday weekend.
Independence Day is expected to be packed with travelers, making roads and airports one of the busiest holidays. Officially, the federal holiday is on Thursday, July 4th. However, many people will choose to stay off work on Friday as well, even though it is not federally required, making it a four-day weekend for many.
However, AAA Motor Club officials expect the unofficial holiday period to run from Saturday, June 29th through Sunday, July 7th.
AAA Florida predicts that 70.9 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles on Independence Day, July 4. Of that number, it's estimated that 4.5 million Florida residents will travel somewhere during the National Day celebrations.
“The summer travel season is off to a strong start and we expect new travel records to be set during Independence Day week, both on the road and in the air,” said Debbie Haas, vice president of travel for AAA (Auto Club Group). “We expect 3.5 million more travelers than last year, which means even more people at popular destinations like airports, beaches, lakes and theme parks.”
Florida, in particular, is expected to see a big increase in travel compared to last year's Fourth of July: AAA officials say 4.5 million Floridians are expected to travel to celebrate the holiday, with about 3.9 million of them traveling by car, another 324,000 by plane and 195,000 by other means such as trains and public buses.
Overall, Florida's numbers are about 300,000 more than 2023 trips during the July 4th holiday. Florida's Independence Day travel projections this year are about 1 million more travelers than in 2022.
According to AAA, three Florida cities rank among the top 10 domestic travel destinations around the Fourth of July: Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, with Orlando coming in at No. 2, Miami at No. 5 and Fort Lauderdale at No. 7. Seattle tops the list.
Nationwide, Fourth of July travel is expected to total about 3.5 million more people than last year, and about 5.7 million more than 2019 figures before the COVID pandemic, according to AAA data.
AAA officials say the best times to book and depart a flight are generally before 10 a.m. and after 7 p.m. The worst time to travel is between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., according to the group.
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