While AAA is predicting a record number of American travelers during the Fourth of July holiday this year, the percentage increase compared to recent years is slightly lower but reflects a boom in cruising.
In total, the company has forecasted that 72.2 million people will travel during the Independence Day holiday this year, up from 71.8 million last year, which had been a record.
AAA defines the July 4 holiday travel period as June 27 to July 5.
The category seeing the biggest increase in passengers is travel via buses, trains and cruises. This year, the association forecasted 4.93 million will travel by modes other than car or air, a 5.3% increase from last year. AAA attributed the bump to the popularity of cruise vacations.
Another 5.85 million are projected to travel on domestic flights, up 0.2% from last year. Overall, the organization said domestic flights for the holiday average around $830 per ticket.
Most Americans -- 61.4 million -- will travel by car, almost the same amount as last year (61.3 million).
"For many Americans, traveling the week of July 4 is tradition," Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, said in a release. "The nine-day travel forecast includes travelers who are vacationing all week and people just getting away for the long holiday weekend. While the overall number of Independence Day travelers appears to be plateauing, we're still expecting record volumes this year."