The holiday season is the busiest time of year for long-distance travel, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. But as expected, holiday travel in 2020 has been significantly impacted by the pandemic.
While many people traveled this Thanksgiving, more opted to stay home compared to the previous year. Data from the U.S. Department of Transportation and a new survey from Clearcover, a car insurance company, lend some insight into what we can expect for holiday travel as we enter the final days of the year.
If you’re planning a trip, flexibility is key. Given the fluid nature of COVID-19 outbreaks, you may decide to alter plans as your trip gets closer.
More People Stayed Home For Thanksgiving, But Trips Got Longer
Not surprisingly, the number of people who decided to stay home this Thanksgiving increased from the year before. About 29% of Americans decided to stay home during Thanksgiving week 2020 compared to 20.5% during the same period in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
For Americans who did take a trip (by any mode of transportation)during the six-day Thanksgiving travel period, there was an increase in long-distance trips, defined as a trip of 50 miles or more by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The number of trips between 50 and 500 miles during Thanksgiving week increased by about 145.5 million compared to 2019.
But really long road trips of 500 miles or more saw a decrease of 3.5 million compared to last year.
Americans are 58% less likely to say they’re planning to travel over Christmas and New Year’s than they were a few weeks ago, according to a new survey from Clearcover. Almost half of the survey respondents indicated they canceled their holiday travel plans due to increased COVID-19 cases.
