Captive Audience: Road Trips Dominate Memorial Day Travel Plans.

Americans are expected to hit the road in record numbers this Memorial Day weekend despite sharply higher gasoline prices and rising travel costs that are forcing some households to scale back vacation spending.

AAA projects that 45 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday, May 21, and Monday, May 25, setting a new Memorial Day travel record. The forecast slightly exceeds last year’s total of 44.8 million holiday travelers.

Automobile travel is expected to account for the vast majority of trips. AAA estimates that approximately 39.1 million people will travel by car during the holiday period, a modest increase from a year ago, even as gasoline prices remain significantly higher.

“Demand remains strong,” Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, told Yahoo Finance. “Travel is personal, and for many Americans, Memorial Day weekend getaways are a tradition.”

Barber said road travel continues to offer consumers a less expensive alternative to air travel, despite elevated fuel prices.

More drivers on the road means a larger audience for AM/FM radio, which accounts for a majority of in-car listening, according to Edison Research and its latest “Share of Ear” report, despite that drivers can access streaming services, podcasts or satellite radio while behind the wheel.

Edison Research also found in its Q4 2025 report that 53% of listening to over-the-air AM/FM radio took place in vehicles in 2025, up 25% from its 42% 10 years ago. The quarterly study has since 2015 has surveyed 4,000 Americans annually to measure daily reach and time spent for all forms of audio.

AM/FM radio is also demonstrating that it can do the work of highway billboards with in-car display ads showing the same content, while driving lifts in awareness, consideration and action, according to the Westwood One blog.

Driving vacations are expected to account for 87% of all Memorial Day travelers this year. According to AAA data, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline stood at $3.19 during Memorial Day weekend last year. This year, prices have climbed to $4.53 per gallon.

Air travel also is expected to increase modestly over the holiday period. AAA forecasts that 3.66 million travelers will fly domestically during Memorial Day weekend, slightly above year-ago levels. However, many of those airline tickets were purchased before rising jet fuel costs pushed airfares higher.

New data from the Bank of America Institute cited by Yahoo suggests higher travel costs are having differing effects on households depending on income levels.

According to the institute’s summer travel outlook report, nearly four in 10 lower-income households earning $66,000 or less annually do not expect to take a summer vacation this year. Bank of America card data also indicates that travel-related spending among those households has declined compared with 2025. At the same time, the report found that middle- and higher-income consumers are continuing to increase travel spending despite broader economic concerns.

Travel industry analysts say many consumers are adapting rather than abandoning vacation plans altogether.

According to the Bank of America Institute, only about 10% of travelers are canceling trips outright, while others are reducing the number of vacations they take or trimming spending on hotels and other travel-related expenses.