Americans were on the move in record numbers during the most recent year-end travel period, with a estimated 122.4 million people traveling at least 50 miles from home. Road trips stood out as the dominant choice for travelling, with nearly 89% choosing to drive, aided by fuel prices that dipped below $3 a gallon, which made road trips all the more auspicious. Air travel was also on the rise, with over an estimated 8.03 million people booking a regional flight.
Those hitting the roads and skies weren’t just revisiting familiar places behind these booking patterns; there’s an interesting diversity in destinations. Priceline's findings highlighted a duality in travel trends, with domestic travelers choosing both iconic cities like New York, Vegas, and growing destinations such as Orlando and Denver for their trips. That split sharpens by age: 44% of Gen Z respondents listed New York City as a top domestic destination, compared with 39% of Millennials. Miami followed closely for both groups, while interest in cities such as Nashville declined to around 12% among Gen Z.
Despite many travelers celebrating at home, with 56% saying they usually stay put, a healthy 34% reported visiting others at their home, and about 9% headed to a leisure destination, typically over longer distances. Highlights from state-level variation shows places like Ohio sitting at the top with 62%, followed by Connecticut and Texas, at 58% and 56.1% respectively.
Who went where?
A travel survey of 2,370 U.S. adults by Upgraded points indicated that most trips were regional, and a strong share of Americans undertook longer distances when the payoff was clear. About 34% of respondents traveled more than 50 miles, while 1 in 10 reported exceeding the mark of 500 miles, underscoring how traveling hasn’t disappeared but rather it has become more selective.
That selectiveness is further elucidated by geography, with 24.5% of residents recorded in Colorado, the highest count for residents travelling 500 miles or more, followed by Arizona at 20.8% and Missouri at 19.2%.
With high congestion and limited time off during the peak travel period, travelers appeared to be optimizing their trips on what justifies the experience, either by visiting family in far places or by choosing a destination worth the distance.
In other words, Americans aren’t necessarily traveling farther en masse, but those who are, are doing so deliberately.
BEFORE YOU GO
Not all news. Just the news that matters and changes the way you see the world, backed by beautiful data.
Takes 5 minutes to read and it’s free.