Californians predicted to travel in record numbers during holidays

Bryce Armbruster is having a staycation in Novato this Christmas.

He already had a rough travel experience last weekend when he flew home from a wedding in Madison, Wisconsin.

“There were multiple flight cancellations and delays,” Armbruster said. “Going back, we had a flat tire.”

He braved Monday afternoon’s heavy rain to take a Marin Airporter bus from Novato to the San Francisco International Airport, where he planned to pick up his car. His weekend holiday plan is simple.

“We’re just staying here, having Christmas with the family, and that’s it,”  he said.

While staycationers like Armbruster will relax in the Bay Area, an estimated 15.4 million Californians are projected to travel during the holidays, according to the American Automobile Association. This number beats the 2019 record set before the pandemic by 2.6%.

AAA predicts this year’s holiday travel season will be the busiest in more than 20 years. They expect more than 115 million people will be traveling in the United States between Saturday and Jan. 1, which is 2.2% higher than last year.

“Despite high costs, more Americans are prioritizing creating memories with loved ones and exploring new destinations,” said Brian Ng, senior vice president of membership and travel marketing for AAA Northern California.

In a breakdown of AAA’s projections, they predict that 103.6 million people across the country will travel by car while 7.5 million will fly. The predicted number of people on the roads is slightly higher than the 101.8 million count last year.

AAA spokesperson John Treanor said that leaving early should be a priority for travelers since so many Americans will venture out during the holidays.

“We recommend leaving before lunchtime or after 7 p.m. to avoid traffic,” he said. “If flying, add an extra hour to your planned arrival time at airports to ensure parking and navigating TSA lines. Also download apps for the airline you’re flying to access digital board passes to be alerted to delays or gate changes.”

Novato residents Norman Hering and his wife, Tati, started their journey to Spain on a mid-afternoon Marin Airporter bus trip to SFO on Monday. They hoped to reach their European destination by the following evening.

“Our flight is at 8:30, so we need to be there at 6:30, but if there is a lot of traffic and this is late,” he said about the bus trip. “I don’t want to take that chance.”

Tiburon resident Karen Delise said that she used to travel to Santa Maria to visit relatives during the holidays. She’s staying put in the Bay Area this year.

“My family is here, my son is here, my sister is here, my grandson is here,” she said.

For those driving to their destination, a little relief at gas pumps in California may be expected this week.

AAA reported that Marin County’s average, regular gas price was $4.66 a gallon on Monday, which was slightly higher than the California average that day. San Rafael’s average price for a gallon of regular gasoline dropped from $5.12 a gallon in mid-November to $4.60 on Monday.

“We do not expect gas prices to impact decisions to travel, and that is evidenced by our travel forecast, which is predicting record travel this holiday weekend,” Treanor said.

There is also a projected break in the rainy weather in Marin this week as the skies clear for the holiday weekend beginning Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS predicts a “slight chance” of snow in Tahoe during the Christmas weekend.

Jean Scimone carried a colorful umbrella in the Tuesday morning rain in downtown San Rafael. She moved from Colorado to California in October, but she was planning to fly to Denver on Wednesday to spend the holidays in her former state.

“I read that the airlines were going to be super busy at the airports from the 21st on,” she said.

Scimone said that she retired from working at an electric company in Hawaii and she then moved to Colorado.

“I loved living in Colorado because I never lived anywhere where there are four seasons,” she said. “My daughter said, ‘Well mom, if you want snow, I’ll take you to Tahoe.’”

Bryan McCormack, a Larkspur resident, said that he’s “just staying local,” and visiting relatives in Oakland this Christmas. He mentioned that he sometimes visits Tahoe, but he last heard there was not a lot of snow there.

Said McCormack, pointing to Tuesday’s rain in downtown: “Maybe now, who knows?”