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A record number of Texans are expected to travel 50 miles or more over the weekend of July 4th, travel experts at AAA Texas say.
The vacation time, which AAA Texas counts from July 1 to July 5, could include approximately 3.7 million Texans by road, rail, air, and boat – most travelers from Texas on July 4 since 2000, when AAA Texas took the Data collection began.
Here are five more things to know about traveling this weekend vacation:
1. Around 3.3 million Texans will be on the go.
According to predictions from AAA Texas, the 3.3 million travelers would be not only a 41% increase from 2020 – when the nation struggled to endure a spike in coronavirus cases over the summer – but also a 10% increase from prepandemic 2019.
As vaccine availability and vaccination rates have increased, many companies and states such as Texas have expanded their capacity for customers and sightseeing visitors.
More:Austin Airport is offering 7 new non-stop routes through Allegiant Airlines
“After the opportunities have been postponed for nearly a year and a half, more Texans than ever are expected to be away from home on this Independence Day holiday,” said Kent Livesay, vice president and general manager of AAA Texas.
According to AAA Texas, gas prices are well on the way to being the most expensive since June 2018. GasBuddy.com reported Tuesday that the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Austin was as high as $ 2.69.
“Higher gasoline prices won’t deter road trippers this summer,” said Daniel Armbruster, spokesman for AAA Texas. “In fact, we expect a record level of road trips this July 4th.”
2. But buses, trains, and cruises are still struggling to recover.
An estimated 35,000 travelers will board buses, trains and cruises. That number is a 75% increase from last year, but this year’s total will remain a staggering 83% below pre-2019 levels.
Cruise ships, which became epicentres for coronavirus cases at the beginning of the pandemic, faced particular challenges in ensuring health security. However, they announced that limited cruises from US ports will begin starting in late June.
3. About 338,000 will fly for the fourth.
Expect Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and all of the other air traffic hubs in the country to be stronger than normal. This year’s forecast volume of 338,000 Texan passengers is a whopping 177% more than the 2020 total – and only 3% less than the 2019 total before the pandemic.
Though many visitors tend to flood Austin for South by Southwest festivals in the spring and Formula 1 races in the fall, Austin-Bergstrom’s busiest month, surprisingly, is July when families are on vacation. In July 2019, the airport counted around 1.6 million passengers, the largest monthly passenger volume at the airport ever.
Last July, in the middle of the pandemic, the total monthly number of passengers was 406,065. But the airport is recovering.
“We saw 87,896 passengers through security this year on Memorial Day weekend (Friday through Monday) and we will almost certainly see more this weekend,” said Bryce Dubee, Austin-Bergstrom spokesman. “By comparison, the busiest day on this holiday weekend was Monday with 25,354 passengers, and just last Sunday we saw 26,029 passengers depart from Austin – so there is definitely an upward trend towards summer.”
More:Fireworks are prohibited in Austin. Here’s what to do in Austin on July 4th
It is likely that 1 million people traveled through Austin Airport in May, a number the airport has not seen since before the pandemic, Dubee said.
“Our numbers were really at pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
The latest statistics from the airport are similar to the number of passengers in 2016 and 2017.
About 26,000 passengers are seen on Mondays on Fridays, Sundays and bank holidays, Dubee said, which would be a normal day before the coronavirus.
“June, July and August are historically our busiest months of the year, and we expect it will be the same this year,” said Dubee.
If you’re traveling by plane this weekend, the airport recommends arriving early so you have plenty of time to go through the ticket, baggage, and security process.
Dubee said travelers with flights between 5 and 8 a.m. should arrive two and a half hours earlier as this window is the airport’s busiest time.
“We see that almost half of our travelers who pass through the airport every day are on those morning flights,” he said.
More:Traveling for July 4th? Here are the worst times to take to the streets
4. Watch out for rising prices.
AAA Texas warns that as demand increases, travelers can expect higher prices for hotels and rental cars.
Daily rental car prices are up 86% from last Independence Day and are at $ 166, according to AAA Texas. A microchip shortage affecting automakers could lead to high rental costs and limited rental car availability in some markets.
5. Don’t forget to stay healthy.
The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that fully vaccinated individuals can travel domestically with little risk to themselves. However, if you are not vaccinated, the CDC recommends that you wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands frequently, and get tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, before and after your trip.
Masks are required for anyone traveling to, from, or within the country at U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and train stations, and face-covering is required on airplanes, buses, trains, and other public transportation.
Austin-Bergstrom requires travelers to wear a face mask in terminals and when boarding a plane, Dubee said.
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