Travel News

Thanksgiving Travel Up 11%: AAA Says Prepare For Crowds

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons User Jamain

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons User Jamain

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons User Jamain

Get ready for a Thanksgiving travel surge. Estimates released by auto club AAA and IHS Global Insight on Tuesday predict that 42.2 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home during next week’s Thanksgiving holiday.

Compared to 2009, 11 percent more people will travel over the over the five-day holiday period, starting Wednesday, November 24 and ending Sunday, November 28, than in 2009.

The majority of travelers, around 94 percent, will hit the road by car, the AAA report stated. So expect traffic jams as 12 percent more people will be driving this year than last year.

Perhaps deterred by sky-high airfare, a more modest increase will be seen in the number of people flying to their holiday destination this year. An estimated 3.5 percent more travelers will fly this year, said the report.

That means 1.62 million holiday fliers, compared to last year’s 1.57 million, clogging the increasingly aggressive air security checkpoints.

AAA and IHS based their predictions on the warming U.S. economy. Though unemployment remains high, many are in a better financial state than during Thanksgiving 2009.

AAA pointed to a gain of 2.2 percent in GDP since Thanksgiving 2009 as proof that consumers are in a better place financially this year to celebrate the holiday with faraway friends and family.

The crowds of travelers on the highways and in airports are a welcome change over 2009, when there was a lackluster 0.2 percent rise in Thanksgiving travel. It also is a big improvement over 2008 when Thanksgiving travel plummeted 25 percent as the recession hit hard.

However, the 42.2 million traveling this year is still 30 percent less than the peak in 2005, when 58.6 million travelers took a trip on Turkey Day.

Also, expect to pay more for airfare and hotels this year, says AAA’s Leisure Travel Index.  AAA reports that airfare over Thanksgiving is up four percent over 2009 with the average lowest-price round trip ticket costing $176.

Hotel rates will rise even higher, by four to six percent over last year. Travelers are expected to spend and average of $136 per night for a three diamond hotel and $96 per night for a four diamond hotel.

On the plus side, weekend daily car rental rates will decrease 4 percent to an average of $42.

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By Adriana Padilla for PeterGreenberg.com