The unofficial start of summer is kicking off with a bang. According to new data from AAA, a record-breaking 45.1 million Americans are expected to travel over the Memorial Day weekend—surpassing the previous high set in 2005. The travel window runs from Thursday, May 22 to Monday, May 26, with an estimated 1.4 million more travelers than last year. California alone will account for over 5.8 million of those trips, a 4% increase from 2024 and a new all-time high for the state.
Bay Area in the Spotlight
AAA’s booking data shows San Francisco landing in the top 10 U.S. destinations for Memorial Day getaways, signaling strong interest in Bay Area vacations.
How We’re Getting There
- By Car: Road trips remain king, with 87% of travelers—about 39.4 million people—hitting the highways. Californians make up more than 4.8 million of those drivers. This year, cheaper gas prices are helping fuel the trend, thanks to lower crude oil costs.
- By Air: Roughly 3.61 million Americans will take to the skies, including about 622,000 Californians. While air travel is up nearly 2% over last year, ticket prices are also up by about 2% for domestic flights.
- By Train, Bus, or Cruise: Alternative travel is gaining momentum. AAA expects 2.08 million travelers to use trains, buses, or cruise ships—an 8.5% jump from 2024. Around 424,000 Californians fall into this category. Cruises, in particular, are surging in popularity, with AAA projecting a record 19 million passengers in 2025.
So are they coming to take selfies with the fecal footprints? Maybe to paticipate in the local injection & fentanyl camps? The empty piers or perhaps even Alcatraz the new super max prison? What exactly are people scrambling to SF for? I have grown up here & still at 56 years old I do not undestand the allure of that dirty filthy cesspool we call SF! Nobody is coming to vacation in SF…
PASS,
TV on the left, computer on the right of recliner.
The recliner is my friend.