The American Automobile Association (AAA) expects a record 45.1 million Americans to travel over Memorial Day weekend, kicking off what could be one of the busiest summer travel seasons in recent history.
According to AAA’s 2025 travel forecast, the number of people traveling at least 50 miles from home between Thursday, May 22, and Monday, May 26, increased by 4% from last year and was the second-highest Memorial Day travel volume since the organization began tracking it in 2000.
The previous record for the number of travelers over Memorial Day Weekend was broken in 2005 when 44 million people traveled at least 50 miles away from home.
These 2025 projections represent a significant increase from last year, in which AAA projected a total of 43.8 million travelers for Memorial Day in 2024, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel, said in the forecast that “Memorial Day weekend getaways don’t have to be extravagant and costly,” noting that many travelers will opt for cheap travel options.
“While some travelers embark on dream vacations and fly hundreds of miles across the country, many families just pack up the car and drive to the beach or take a road trip to visit friends. Long holiday weekends are ideal for travel because many people have an extra day off work and students are off from school.”
Barber’s comments ring true as the vast majority of the projected travelers are expected to commute by car, with 39.4 million people expected to travel via car and the remaining 5.69 million projected travelers expected to commute through other forms of transportation.
AAA also determined the top destinations for those expected to travel over Memorial Day, with Orlando, Florida, ranking as the most sought-after domestic vacation spot this year.
Seattle, largely due to the beginning of the Alaskan cruise season, and New York City rank as the second and third most desired destinations for expected travelers this year.
Internationally, Rome, Italy, and Vancouver, Canada, are the two top destinations, with Paris, France, coming in as the third biggest destination for projected travelers.