Record travel expected for an expensive Fourth of July weekend

The US is poised for record-breaking Fourth of July travel, with an estimated 70.9 million Americans expected to travel more than 50 miles for Independence Day.

Senior Vice President of AAA Paula Twidale said that she expects the numbers to far exceed pre-pandemic levels, with 5.7 million more people traveling compared to 2019.

“With summer vacations in full swing and the flexibility of remote work, more Americans are taking extended trips around Independence Day,” she said. “We anticipate this July 4th week will be the busiest ever.”

AAA projects 60.6 million people will travel by car for the holiday weekend and 5.74 million will travel by plane. Another 4.6 million people are expected to take buses, trains or cruise ships.

In some welcome news, both gas prices and airfare are slightly cheaper than they were for Fourth of July last year. Airfare is 2% cheaper and gas is lower than the $3.53 per gallon it was in 2023 . Still, AAA says the average domestic roundtrip plane ticket for the holiday weekend was $800.

Food costs, though, remain high. Americans are estimated to spend $9.4 billion on food this Independence Day Weekend, down from last year’s $9.5 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Those numbers are way up from 2019, when the total estimated spending on Fourth of July food was $6.5 billion.

Rabobank’s BBQ Index said that celebrations this week will be the most expensive on record, estimating a 10-person cookout will cost $99 thanks to historically high food prices. It said most of that will go towards beer, beef, soda, and lettuce, with “the inflation gain for a Fourth of July barbecue up to 32% since 2019.”