Here’s What You Need to Know. AAA’s Memorial Day 2026 forecast, released this morning, projects 45 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home between May 21 and May 25 — a new all-time record for the holiday, narrowly beating last year’s 44.8 million. 87% of those trips go by car, where drivers face the highest pump prices since summer 2022. Air travel hits 3.66 million, with the average round-trip ticket down 6% year over year at $800. Below: what it costs, when to drive, and where the smart money is going.

How Much Will Memorial Day Travel Cost You in 2026?

The pump is doing the heavy lifting. AAA’s national average sat at $4.52 a gallon as of May 7, 2026 — up sharply from $3.17 last Memorial Day and the highest holiday reading in four years. For a household driving 600 miles in a 25-mpg SUV, that’s roughly $108 in fuel alone, before tolls, food and lodging.

The picture is friendlier in the air. AAA booking data shows round-trip domestic flights 6% cheaper than 2025, with an average ticket of $800 — though most of those bargains were locked in before jet fuel started climbing. Rental cars are 1% cheaper year over year; the busiest pickup days are Thursday and Friday.

The takeaway echoes a pattern we’ve tracked all spring: U.S. consumers keep prioritizing experiences. The record $38 billion Mother’s Day spending splurge earlier this month set the same tone — discretionary holiday budgets are expanding, not contracting.

When Should You Hit the Road (and When to Avoid It)?

If you’re driving, timing is everything. INRIX, AAA’s traffic-data partner, says the worst congestion windows are predictable to the hour:

  • Thursday, May 21: 12 p.m. – 9 p.m. (peak getaway window)
  • Friday, May 22: 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
  • Saturday, May 23: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Sunday, May 24: minimal traffic impact expected
  • Monday, May 25: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. (return-day crunch)

The best windows are early morning — before 10 or 11 a.m. — or after 9 p.m. Thursday. Sunday is the secret weapon: AAA expects “minimal impact” for travelers willing to shift the getaway by 24 hours.

Some metros will be brutal. INRIX projects Washington, DC to Baltimore travel times spike 116% Thursday afternoon. Denver-to-Fort Collins is up 113% Monday at 5 p.m., New York-to-Jersey-Shore +102%, Boston-to-Hyannis +94%, and Los Angeles-to-Palm Springs +88%. If you have to drive one of these corridors, leave at dawn or wait until well after dinner.

Why Gas Prices Will Spike for the Holiday — and How to Beat the Pump

Pump prices are not climbing in a vacuum. Brent crude has been holding above $102 a barrel since the spring escalation in the Persian Gulf — the same backdrop that pushed the S&P 500 to record highs while shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz tightened. About a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil moves through that single chokepoint, which is why even a partial disruption to the Strait of Hormuz feeds straight into the price you pay at the pump in Dallas or Denver.

The state spread is the biggest in years. California sits at $6.17 a gallon, with Washington at $5.76 and Hawaii at $5.66. Oklahoma is the cheapest at $3.99, followed by Mississippi at $4.01 and Louisiana at $4.02. A driver from Memphis to Gulf Shores fuels up for roughly two-thirds the cost of the same trip in California.

Three quick wins before you turn the key: use a fuel-rewards app (Upside, GasBuddy, or an AAA-linked card) to claw back 10 to 25 cents a gallon; fill up Monday or Tuesday before the holiday — historically the cheapest weekdays; and check tire pressure, which can quietly cost up to 3% in fuel economy.

Where Americans Are Going This Year (and Where They’re Not)

AAA’s booking data shows the domestic top 10 leans heavily toward theme parks, big cities and West Coast cruise ports:

  • Domestic top 5: Orlando, Seattle, New York, Las Vegas, Miami
  • International top 5: Rome, Vancouver, Paris, London, Athens

Two stories pop out. Anchorage cracks the top 10 thanks to Alaska cruise season — bus, train and cruise bookings are up 5% year over year, the fastest-growing travel category. And Rome leads international destinations for the second year running, the dollar’s edge against the euro still pulling Americans toward Mediterranean itineraries.

What’s not on the list is just as telling. Family-budget destinations like Myrtle Beach, the Outer Banks and the Gulf Coast don’t crack the top 10 — but booking partners report Memorial Day hotel deals in the 15% to 20% off range in exactly those markets.

Quick Tips to Save Without Skipping the Trip

If you haven’t booked yet, you still have leverage. The cheapest move is the one most people skip: travel Sunday. INRIX expects negligible congestion, hotels run lower midweek-to-Sunday packages, and you’ll skip the Monday-afternoon return-traffic wall.

A few more plays that move the needle:

  • Book a bundle, not a flight: Expedia and Hotels.com packages are pricing 10-15% below the same flight-plus-hotel booked separately for May 23-26.
  • Drive south, not west: a tank from Atlanta to Savannah costs roughly half a tank from San Francisco to Napa — and the Napa hotel is two to three times higher.
  • Skip the airport on Thursday: TSA volumes peak Thursday afternoon and Friday morning; an early-Wednesday flight is typically 8-12% cheaper.

The Bottom Line

A record 45 million Americans will hit the road, the runway or the rails this Memorial Day — in the face of $4.52-a-gallon gas and the highest holiday pump prices since 2022. The good news: flights are cheaper, rental cars are cheaper, and the smartest single move — driving Sunday morning instead of Friday afternoon — costs nothing. Worth spending ten minutes on the timing