Road trips are expected to set a new record this Memorial Day holiday weekend. AAA projects 39.4 million people will travel by car over Memorial Day weekend, an additional one million travelers compared to last year.

An estimated 45.1 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday, May 22, and Monday, May 26, an increase of 1.4 million travelers compared to last year.

The previous record was set back in 2005 with 44 million people.

Driving is the preferred mode of transportation during the holidays, with 87 percent of Memorial Day travelers choosing to take road trips.

For drivers renting cars over Memorial Day weekend, AAA car rental partner Hertz says Friday, May 23, is expected to be the busiest day for pickup. SUVs are the most popular rental vehicles for the long holiday weekend. The cities expected to have the highest demand for rental cars include Orlando, Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, and Seattle.

AAA projects 3.61 million air passengers, a nearly 2 percent increase over last year when 3.55 million travelers took to the skies.

While this Memorial Day weekend isn’t expected to set an air travel record (set back in 2005 with 3.64 million travelers), this year’s numbers are projected to surpass pre-pandemic levels by 12 percent.

AAA booking data (based on what travelers paid when booking Memorial Day weekend flights) shows domestic flights are 2 percent more expensive compared to last year, with the average round-trip ticket costing $850.

Travel by other modes continues to rise post-pandemic.

AAA projects 2.08 million people will travel by train, bus or cruise over Memorial Day weekend, an 8.5 percent increase over last year.

Afternoons over Memorial Day weekend are expected to be the most congested, according to transportation data and insight provider INRIX. Boston, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC are the metros that expect the heaviest traffic.

Please note that the times listed below are for the time zone in which the metro is located. For example, Atlanta routes = ET and Los Angeles routes = PT.

The top holiday destinations listed below are based on AAA booking data for trips between Thursday, May 22, and Monday, May 26.