Thanksgiving is always a busy holiday for travel and this year a record-breaking number of Americans will be hitting the road and heading to airports, according to AAA. They predict that 79.9-million travelers will be going 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, which includes the Tuesday before and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day.
- That’s 1.7-million more people than traveled last year for the holiday and 2-million more than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
- So, how is everyone getting where they’re going this year?
- Most folks will be driving, with 71.74-million travelers expected to get to their Thanksgiving destination by car. That’s 1.3-million more people on the road for the holiday than last year.
- Another 5.84-million will be flying and 2.28-million will travel by another mode of transportation, like train, bus or cruise.
With all those people getting into their cars, travelers can expect a lot of traffic.
- The busiest day for travel overall is expected to be the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
- Roads are expected to be the most crowded the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, with peak traffic between 1 and 7 p.m. on Tuesday (November 26th) and between 1 and 5 p.m. on Wednesday, according to INRIX.
- On the way home from the holiday, the worst traffic is expected to be Sunday (December 1st) from noon to 6 p.m. and Monday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- Before Thanksgiving, the least traffic is expected to be before 11 a.m. on Monday, November 25th, before 10 a.m. on both Tuesday the 26th and Wednesday the 27th.
- After Thanksgiving, the best driving times are predicted to be after 1 p.m. on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after the holiday, and before 8 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on Monday (December 2nd).
Source: AAA