AAA project busy travel for Thanksgiving week in Delaware Valley

AAA is projecting that more than 975,000 Philadelphia-area residents will travel over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, an increase of 2.4% over last year – exceeding pre-pandemic  numbers and setting a new record.

As usual, the great majority of those travelers will be driving to their holiday destinations. AAA is projecting that more than 870,000 Philadelphia-area residents (nearly 90% of local travelers) will be hitting the road, up 2.3% over last year.

AAA projects nearly 84,000 Philadelphia-area residents (nearly 10% of local travelers) will travel to their Thanksgiving holiday destination by air, an increase of 2.6% over last year.

Other modes of travel – cruise ships, busses, and trains – will see a more than 5% increase over last year as nearly 17,000 Philadelphia-area residents utilize those modes of travel for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

“Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel, as families and friends look forward to reconnecting over the holiday period, and travel is a big part of that,” said Jana Tidwell, Manager of Public and Government Affairs, AAA Mid-Atlantic. “As travel demand continues to soar and trends evolve due to remote work options and extended school holiday breaks, we’re expecting to set new records across the board, from driving to flying and cruising.”

For the first time, AAA’s forecast includes the Tuesday before and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day to better capture the flow of holiday travelers.

2024 Projected Thanksgiving Holiday Travelers – Philadelphia (5-county) Area

*U.S. Census Bureau (v2023)/IHS Markit

AAA’s National Travel Projections

AAA projects 79.9 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period*. This year’s projection of nearly 80 million travelers is an increase of 1.7 million people compared to last year and 2 million more than in 2019.

AAA projects a record 71.7 million people will travel by car over Thanksgiving – that’s an additional 1.3 million travelers on the road compared to last year. This year’s number also surpasses pre-pandemic numbers when 70.6 million people drove to their Thanksgiving destinations in 2019.

Gas prices are lower this Thanksgiving season compared to 2023. The national average last Thanksgiving Day was $3.26. Falling oil prices this autumn may help push the national average below $3 a gallon for the first time since 2021, and that could happen before drivers hit the road for Thanksgiving. Regionally, drivers east of the Rockies will find gas between $2.25 to $2.50 a gallon in more than a dozen states.

Thanksgiving air travel is also expected to set a new record. AAA projects 5.84 million people will fly domestically this holiday. That’s an increase of 2% compared to last year and a nearly 11% increase over 2019.  According to AAA booking data, air travelers are paying 3% more for domestic Thanksgiving flights this year, while the number of flight bookings is similar to last year. International flight bookings are up 23% compared to last Thanksgiving, in part because the cost to fly internationally is down 5%.

Nearly 2.3 million people are expected to travel by other modes of transportation, including buses, cruises, and trains. 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. The demand for cruises has been red-hot post-pandemic. Domestic and international cruise bookings are up 20% compared to last Thanksgiving.

No Holiday for AAA – Slow Down/Move Over

AAA is expecting to rescue more than 10,000 Members over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend – just in the Philadelphia five-county area alone – and more than a third of those calls will require a tow. Drivers are reminded to always Slow Down and Move Over for AAA tow truck drivers, other emergency first responders and the stranded motorists they are assisting on the side of the road.

Be Patient

The roads and airports will be busy so plan ahead.

• Arrive at the airport early so you’ll have plenty of time to get through longer TSA lines and other travel checkpoints. For domestic travel, AAA suggests 2.5 hours ahead of departure time and 3 hours for international.
• Consider booking a flight during non-peak travel periods to cut down on wait times; traveling on Thanksgiving Day is usually the least busy and most cost effective day to travel.
• Hit the road when there’s less traffic and allow for extra time when traveling to your destination; in metropolitan areas traffic could be more than double what it typically is on a normal day.

Best/Worst Times to Drive and Peak Congestion by Metro

INRIX, a provider of transportation data and insights, says the worst times to travel by car over Thanksgiving are Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. The best time to hit the road is Thanksgiving Day itself when interstates and highways are typically clear. Drivers returning home on Sunday should leave early in the morning, and those coming back on Monday should expect a mix of travelers and work commuters on the road.

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