The Memorial Day weekend travel season kicked off Friday with Southern Californians expected to take to the roads and planes in record numbers for holiday trips, and officials urged people to plan ahead, expect crowds and be patient.
Memorial Day traditionally marks the start of the summer travel season, and officials at Los Angeles International Airport warned travelers that passenger and vehicle traffic will increase over the next few days and remain high for the next few months.
According to the Automobile Club of Southern California, 3.5 million Southern California residents are expected to travel for Memorial Day. Daytime weekend attendance was higher than the previous year and surpassed the pre-pandemic record set in 2019 for the second year in a row.
The holiday travel season officially kicked off Thursday with 3.5 million travelers, up 4.7% from last year's record number and 4.2% from 2019's figure, according to the Auto Club.
The best time to travel by car
Of the 3.5 million expected travelers, 2.9 million will travel by car within California.
Transport data and insights provider INRIX predicts the best time to travel by car:
- Thursday and Friday before 11am or after 8pm
- Sunday before 1pm
- Monday after 7pm
The busiest highways
I-5 northbound from Los Angeles to Bakersfield: According to INRIX, travel times during the afternoon and evening hours on Thursday, May 23, will increase by 84% from the usual 90 minutes to about three hours.
What to expect from air travelers
An estimated 371,000 people are expected to fly this Memorial Day weekend.
“We expect a busy summer with school holidays, work breaks and increased demand for travel to Los Angeles,” Doug Webster, interim chief operations and maintenance officer at Los Angeles World Airports, said in a statement. “Our airport staff and airline partners know we will see a wave of travelers to the area and are prepared and equipped to provide our customers with the best experience possible at LAX.”
Airport officials urged travelers to arrive at the airport at least two hours before for domestic flights and three hours before for international flights. Parking is also expected to be in short supply, so travelers should consider reserving a spot in advance at parking.flylax.com.
Where will Southern Californians go?
1) Las Vegas
2) San Diego
3) Grand Canyon
4) Hawaii
5) Seattle/Alaska Cruise
Popular domestic destinations include Orlando, New York, Las Vegas, Seattle and Anaheim/Los Angeles.
