You might know at least one person who isn’t planning to travel anywhere around Christmas and New Year’s Day, but plenty of people will be on the move.

About 122.4 million people nationwide will be boarding airplanes and heading along freeways and roadways. That number of travelers going at least 50 miles in the period from Saturday until Jan. 1 would be a 2.2% increase over 2024, when a record 119.7 million people traveled nationwide. AAA expects 89% of this year’s travelers to be on the roads.

“It’s the biggest amount (of holiday travelers) we have all year,” AAA spokesperson Julian Paredes said. The major difference between this holiday period and other peak travel times such as Thanksgiving and Memorial Day, he said, is that those holidays are more condensed, meaning traffic at the end of the year is spread out over a longer window.

The anticipated 16.6 million travelers in California are expected to venture at least 50 miles, with about 14.5 million doing so by car or other vehicle.

Meanwhile, some 8.03 million travelers nationally are expected to take a domestic flight, AAA has forecast. That would be a 2.3% increase from a year ago and would mark the first time the year-end holiday period has seen at least 8 million domestic air travelers, according to Paredes.

Locally, peak air travel days at San Francisco International Airport began Thursday and will run through Monday, spokesperson Doug Yakel said. Airport officials anticipate that about 165,000 to 170,000 arriving and departing passengers will move through SFO on each of those days.

“We recommend allowing extra time during those days,” Yakel said, adding that the only other day expected to top 160,000 passengers between now and New Year’s Day will be Dec. 26. Travelers should arrive at least two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international departures.

Parking could also be tight.

“We expect parking garages to get full, so we recommend public transit or shared rides,” Yakel said. “For parking, we recommend booking in advance on our website to ensure space is still available.”

San Jose Mineta International Airport is expected to average about 15,000 departing passengers per day beginning Saturday and running through Jan. 5.

By comparison, during the first 10 months of 2025, San Jose Airport accommodated about 4.48 million departures, averaging roughly 14,800 departures per day.

Jarratt said the airport will offer live holiday music, free gift wrapping and additional mobility services to assist passengers as they move through the terminals. Therapy animals also will be circulating through the airport during the holidays to help ease travel stress.

Roughly 400,000 passengers are expected to pass through Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport from Saturday through Jan. 5, with the busiest days expected to be Dec. 22 and Jan. 5, both Mondays. The airport also will roll out a program that allows some people to enter security-screened areas to meet or see off travelers at the gates rather than at the curb.

On the roads, drivers can look forward to the lowest gas prices in four years. The national average dropped below $3 a gallon in December and stood at $2.88 on Friday. In California, the average gas price of $4.32 per gallon was down from earlier this year remained well above the national average.

“We saw record-high prices just a couple of years ago,” Paredes said. “So that’s a positive.”

Traffic is expected to be lightest on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with Christmas Eve typically the least congested day, Paredes said. He urged drivers traveling long and short distances alike to check their car batteries and tires before hitting the road.

“We expect 860,000 calls nationwide for roadside assistance,” he said. “Those two things are the main reasons for those calls. They’re easy things to forget about.”

Weather could complicate travel plans across Northern California.

An atmospheric river storm moving toward the Bay Area from the Pacific Northwest, along with another storm system ahead of it, is expected to make driving conditions difficult. The larger system is likely to arrive by Sunday and will “100%” affect Christmas travel plans, National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass said. Forecasters expect 2 to 5 inches of rain in the North Bay and at least 1½ inches elsewhere in the Bay Area.

In the Sierra, the storm could bring much-needed snow to ski resorts and other snow-dependent industries. Light rain fell Wednesday, along with snow above 8,000 feet, according to the National Weather Service. Snow levels are expected to drop to about 6,500 feet by Monday, with the heaviest snow forecast above Donner Pass, where travel disruptions are likely.

Hazardous tule fog that has blanketed parts of the Bay Area is expected to dissipate by Saturday as the incoming storms alter the conditions that caused it, forecasters said.

Another concern during the holiday periodwill be impaired driving, public safety officials warned. December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month, and officials urged motorists to plan safe rides home if they drink alcohol, pull over to rest if they become drowsy, and wear seat belts.