LOUISVILLE, Ky. — AAA predicts a record number of travelers will hit the road this holiday weekend. The organization estimates 7.2 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home from June 28 to July 6—an increase of 1.7 million compared to last year.
“We’ve been seeing record-breaking travel numbers consistently over the past year and the July 4th holiday is no exception,” said Jim Garrity, director of public affairs, AAA East Central. “The summer months are the most popular time for those memory-making trips with family and friends, and AAA is seeing strong demand for road trips and air travel over Independence Day week.”
Air Travel
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is expecting a rise in Fourth of July passengers compared to 2024.
According to a news release from SDF, the scheduled capacity for the 2025 Independence Day weekend has increased by 5%.
From Thursday, July 3 through Sunday, July 6 SDF’s eight airlines have scheduled over 36,000 departing seats, the news release said. The busiest day is Sunday with nearly 10,000 outbound seats, followed by Thursday with nearly 9,300 departing seats.
Over all four days, there are more than 315 scheduled departing flights.
“We expect the July Fourth weekend to be one of the busiest in recent years as SDF sees a very strong demand for air service from the region’s travelers,” Dan Mann, executive director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, said. “The robust summer schedule from the airlines continues to take passengers to their favorite vacation destinations, especially with the addition of several nonstop flights at SDF that were not offered this time last year. We feel confident about the summer trends and look forward to carrying this momentum into the second half of 2025.”
The airport added nine nonstop options on multiple airlines this summer, including flights to Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Myrtle Beach and Tampa.
Road Travel
AAA estimates 61.6 million will travel by car, a 2.2% increase over last year. The Fourth of July holiday is projected to see an extra 1.3 million road travelers compared to 2024.
Good news for drivers is gas prices are the lowest they’ve been since 2021 according to AAA. The lower cost of crude oil has kept gas prices low. Drivers are paying about 22 cents less per gallon than they were this time last year.
A lot of people rent cars over the holiday and Hertz said Thursday, July 3 is expected to be the busiest day to pick up vehicles. The car company said most renters want SUVs and midsize sedans.
AAA’s list of most popular Fourth of July destinations are Orlando, Boston, Oahu and Seattle.
