Holiday travel forecast: What you need to know before you hit the roads or the skies

Americans are getting ready to hit the roads and skies for the holidays — and airlines are bracing for a packed travel season.

Here’s what you need to know before you hit the road or head to the airport:

Best days to drive, bad days

About 102 million Americans — 90.4% of travelers — drive to their vacation destinations, according to AAA.

According to transport analytics company INRIX, the worst days on the road are December 23, December 27, December 28 and January 2.

But if those are the dates you plan to travel, the best time for drivers is between 2 pm or earlier and after 8 pm Jan. 2 is the best time before 3 pm or after 8 pm, INRIX said.

According to INRIX, the best days to drive are Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Most expensive and least expensive days to fly

According to Expedia, the most expensive days to fly out of the city for Christmas are Thursday, Dec. 22, Saturday, Dec. 17, and Friday, Dec. 23, based on average ticket prices.

The cheapest day to fly before Christmas is December 19.

Avoid flying back on Monday when planning your return trip. December 26. Instead, for December 27 or December 28, according to Expedia.

Looking for the ultimate budget friendly date? Book a flight for New Year’s Eve, when, according to Expedia, ticket prices drop by an average of more than $200 over the holiday period (December 17 to January 1).

January 2 will be United’s busiest day yet.

United plans to carry more than 8.3 million passengers over the holidays — up 1.9 million from last year.

But thanks to remote work, United said vacation travel times are getting longer and there is less demand on peak days.

January 2 is likely to be United’s busiest day, with more than 480,000 travelers expected. The airline said it would set a new travel record after the pandemic.

Chicago O’Hare will be United’s busiest hub, followed by Denver, Newark and Houston, according to the airline.

December 22nd, December 23rd and December 27th are high days for Delta

Delta said it expects about 9 million customers from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3 — a number just shy of 2019, when the airline had about 9.3 million customers.

Delta’s largest hub, Atlanta, averages more than 800 flights.

Delta predicts that the peak travel days will be Thursday, December 22, Friday, December 23 and Tuesday, December 27.

December 22nd is America’s Biggest Day.

American Airlines predicts it will see more than 10 million passengers from December 16 to January 2.

American’s busiest day is December 22nd with 5,520 departures, followed by December 15th with 5,514 departures.