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华尔街日报Holiday Travel Smashes Records Again: AAA Says 122 Million Americans Are On The Move As Gas Prices Slide, Confidence Returns
Holiday travel in the United States is poised to shatter records once again, fueled by falling gas prices and a renewed sense of consumer confidence that is driving heavy traffic across the nation's highways.
New Records Every Year Since The Pandemic
On Thursday, Gene Boehm, the President and CEO of AAA Inc., the popular roadside assistance service, said the steady rise in travel since the pandemic shows no sign of slowing. “We're seeing records every year coming out of the pandemic,” Bowen said, during his appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
He expects more than 122 million Americans to travel this season, which he said marks a 2% year-over-year increase compared to the same period last year.
See Also: 3 Stocks to Profit from the $1 Trillion Holiday Shopping Bonanza
The majority of holiday travelers will be taking to the highways. Boehm said 89% of travelers are driving due to significantly lower fuel costs. “Gas prices are at $2.85 a gallon on average,” which he noted was down from “$3 or $4 a year ago.”
AAA expects intense activity on the nation's roads, with approximately 109 million people traveling by car and the organization anticipates that it will “rescue over 860,000 people on the side of the road” during the holiday period.
Boehm also noted during the segment that air travel, too, was hitting fresh records, with the industry seeing never-before-seen levels of footfalls during the course of this season, without actually mentioning the specific figures.
Pricier Air Tickets, Cheap Gas
Americans chose to drive this holiday season amid a steep reduction in average gas prices across the country, while air travel got considerably more expensive during the same period.
According to AAA's own report earlier this month, airfares are up 7% year-over-year, averaging nearly $900, prompting many travelers to opt for road trips instead.
The TSA reported that the heaviest traveler volume will be about 2.86 million on Sunday, slightly ahead of the busiest day last year at 2.85 million.
This led major aviation stocks such as American Airlines Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL), Southwest Airlines Company (NASDAQ:LUV), United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) and Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAL), to move marginally higher on Christmas Eve.
The US Global Jets ETF (NYSE:JETS), which tracks most American airliners, is up 8.68% this month. The fund scores high on Momentum in Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, with a favorable price trend in the short, medium and long terms. Click here for deeper insights into the fund, its holdings, and the broader industry.
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