Stats: One-Third of Americans Traveled Memorial Day Weekend

Just one-third (32 percent) of Americans traveled this past Memorial Day Weekend, according to an American Express Travel survey conducted to track consumers’ travel behaviors and sentiment as parts of the country begin to reopen. Previously, AAA said this Memorial Day could see a record low number of Americans traveling.

Of the one-third of consumers who traveled this weekend, two in five (41 percent) say their trips were planned last-minute. The vast majority (85 percent) said they traveled with one (42 percent) or more companions (43 percent). Most Americans traveled by car.

Younger Americans were more likely to travel, with Millennials traveling the most. To note, 48 percent of Millennials said they traveled over Memorial Day Weekend versus 22 percent of Gen Xers and 27 percent of Boomers. Geographically, the percentages vary a bit, but not as much as by age group. Twenty-eight percent of those in the Northeast traveled and 29 percent of those in the Midwest, while 34 percent from the South and 36 percent from the West traveled.

The majority (55 percent) of those that traveled said they went to a suburban area. More than half (57 percent) of those that traveled said it was also within 25 miles of home and 70 percent within 50 miles of home.

This online poll was conducted between May 26-27, 2020 among a national sample of 2,200 adults from households with incomes of $70,000 or greater and that flew at least once in 2019.

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