Christmas Eve is a dozen days away and tens of thousands of Iowans are planning to drive or fly to see family and friends for the holiday.
Brian Ortner, at AAA Iowa, says the overall travel numbers are something of a surprise.
“They’re up over last year, which is great to see those numbers increase, but we’re a little less than the record set back in 2019 for our region this year, and that really falls more into the folks who are driving this holiday season, more than anything right now,” Ortner says. “That number may have slipped a little, but the numbers continue to go up year over year.”
Dedicated fans of Cyclone and Hawkeye football will be headed to the southeast for bowl games later this month. Iowa State will play Miami in the Pop Tarts Bowl on December 28th in Orlando, while Iowa faces Missouri in the Music City Bowl in Nashville on December 30th. Ortner says many of those Iowans will be flying.
“When you look at the number of travelers that are going to be taking flights on the national level, 7.85-million folks hitting the air, that’s a lot of people in airports,” Ortner says. “It’s higher than we saw at Thanksgiving, where they saw some of their busiest days ever. So our advice to folks is, plan ahead and be patient and give yourself plenty of extra time to get to your destination.”
New Year’s Eve is said to be one of the deadliest nights to be on the roads due to the increased risk of encountering a drunk driver. Ortner says Iowans would be wise to cement their arrangements now.
“There are many, many resources out there for folks to get you home safely if your plans change,” Ortner says. “Designated drivers are always the first choice. There’s ride share programs. Tow to Go will be activated by AAA, and be listening for other opportunities in the community for safe rides home.”
Gasoline prices in Iowa are averaging about $2.70 a gallon, that’s about a dime a gallon cheaper than a year ago. The national average is $3.02.
(Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City contributed to this story.)