Thanksgiving, the busiest holiday for travel, is next week and this year a record-breaking number of nearly 80 million people are expected to leave their homes and travel for the holiday.
The American Automobile Association “AAA projects 79.9 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period.”
This is 1.7 million more people than traveled last year.
According to Axios, “Those traveling by car and plane — and potentially even by ship — can expect traffic, long lines and delays with millions more people heading elsewhere for the holiday.”
The predicted number of travelers is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels — two million more than the number that traveled in 2019, per NBC.
AAA’s annual prediction includes journeys of 50 miles or more and this year it includes the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as well as the Monday after. This is done to better reflect the habits of holiday travelers.
How many people will traveling by car?
The majority of travelers are expected to make their journey by car, with 71.7 million people predicted to travel on the roads between Tuesday, Nov. 26 and Monday, Dec. 2, per The AAA.
This number is an increase of 1.3 million drivers compared to last year.
According to AAA, “The best time to hit the road is Thanksgiving Day itself when interstates and highways are typically clear.”
Traffic will be the worst on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, when the majority of drivers will be traveling.
For those driving home on Sunday, the best time to leave is early in the morning, per The AAA. Those returning on Monday will encounter a mix of work commuters and holiday travelers on the roads.
According to Axios, gas prices are lower this Thanksgiving season than they were in 2023.
The national average on Thanksgiving day last year was $3.26 and it is possible the national average will drop below $3 a gallon this Thanksgiving.
How many people will be traveling by plane?
It is predicted that 5.84 million people will be traveling by plane for Thanksgiving this year, an increase from last year’s 5.73 million, according to The AAA. This number is also higher than pre-pandemic numbers, in 2019 5.28 million people traveled by plane.
The increase in flyers comes even though air travelers this year are paying 3% more for domestic Thanksgiving flights, per Axios.
According to Axios, airports will be the busiest the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving as well as the Sunday after. On Tuesday, Nov. 26, TSA expects to screen over 2.8 million people and on Wednesday, Nov. 27 they expect around 2.9 million.
There are more than three million people expected to go through airports on Sunday, Dec. 1.
How many people will be using other travel methods?
Other methods of travel such as buses and trains as well as cruises are expected to be used by 2.3 million Americans, per The AAA.
This is a 9% increase from last year and an 18% increase from 2019.
“This category is seeing an increase of almost 9% compared to last year and an 18% jump over 2019, in large part due to the popularity of cruising,” according to The AAA. “The demand for cruises has been red-hot post-pandemic.”
Bookings for domestic and international cruises have increased 20 percent from last year, per Axios.
