Memorial Weekend Report: What Are The Worst Times To Travel?

Travelers looking to get out of town for Memorial weekend may have to contend with longer wait times because of congested traffic. With nearly 43 million Americans planning a getaway for the holiday weekend, the nation’s roadways will be packed more than normal, making it a little harder to get to that destination on time, AAA reported.

According to the association, 1.5 million more travelers will take a vacation this weekend, up 3.6 percent over last year’s numbers despite rising gas prices. It is the second highest travel volume on record since AAA began tracking holiday travel in 2000. A record was set in 2005 as the highest travel weekend.

“Americans are eagerly anticipating the start of summer, and expensive gas prices won’t keep them home this Memorial Day weekend,” Paula Twidale, vice president at AAA Travel said. “Consumer spending remains strong, helped by solid job and income growth. Families continue to prioritize spending their disposable incomes on travel, and near-record numbers of them are looking forward to doing just that for Memorial Day.”

The roadways will be the most congested this weekend as 37.6 million Americans are expected to travel by automobile. The biggest travel day will be Thursday and Friday in the late afternoon as commuters and holiday travelers take to the road at the same time, according to INRIX, a global transportation analytics company that worked with AAA on the report. The report also indicated that cities such as New York and Washington, D.C. could see three times the delays these days with other cities experiencing double travel times.

“Drivers in the most congested metros should expect much worse conditions than normal,” Trevor Reed, transportation analyst at INRIX said. “Travelers should anticipate delays to start on Wednesday and continue through Memorial Day. Our advice to drivers is to avoid the morning and evening commuting times or plan alternate routes.”

Travelers that are looking to rent a car to get to their destination are not immune from the congestions as Hertz reported, in conjunction with AAA, that the busiest airport locations to pick up a rental car this weekend are expected to be Orlando, Los Angeles, Denver, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. The busiest day for car rental pickups is Friday, according to the company.