Travel Warning: Memorial Day Madness is Upon Us

North Americans should be prepared for a very busy weekend.

The U.S. Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and, with travel restrictions pretty much lifted around the world, it’s big. Very big. Scary big.

The American Automobile Association expected 37.1 million Americans to hop in their cars this weekend, up 6% from last year. I’m surprised it’s not a little higher given that the association says car rental prices are down 17% and gas prices down 10% from a year ago.

“We’re seeing strong demand for MDW with nearly 17 million passengers scheduled to depart from U.S airports this coming weekend,” Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper, told USA TODAY in an email. “Demand remains high for summer, particularly for international travel, as many popular destinations were still closed for tourism this time last year.”

Road trip in California. Casey Horner/Unsplash Photo.

Hopper says the cost of a domestic flight in the U.S. is down 26% from a year ago. But it says the average cost of a flight from the U.S. to Europe is up 50% from Memorial Day 2022, and that flight prices for Asia (which only opened recently for mass tourism) are up a whopping 70%.

Writing in her weekly newsletter, my travel writing friend Meena Thiruvengadam said she’s noticed longer lines, bigger crowds and shorter tempers at several airports over the past few weeks, :and between European strikes, airline meltdowns, labor shortages and school breaks it’s probably only going to get worse.”

“Airports are expected to be the busiest on Thursday, Friday and Monday, especially in the mornings and early evenings,” she wrote. “I flew through O’Hare Thursday morning and even TSA Precheck had a line, which I’ve only experienced twice in the past two years.”

Thiruvengadam said Hopper predicts the busiest airports this weekend will be Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Vegas. Arrive early, folks, and pack your patience.