These Are the Worst Times to Travel for Thanksgiving
Unless you are hosting your Thanksgiving meal and get together, you will be probably traveling at some point from Wedesday through Sunday. Or both times, actually. And yes, some people are traveling a lot further than just going to grandma's or Aunt Mabel's house. Some people are flying somewhere and might be gone the entire week. That will also be a busy time, but maybe not as busy on the actual road.
THE WORST TIMES TO FLY TO YOUR DESTINATION FOR THANKSGIVING
From Nerdwallet:
- The Sunday After Thanksgiving: This is consistently the single busiest and most expensive day of the entire year at U.S. airports, with record-breaking numbers exceeding 3.1 million TSA screenings. From Nerdwallet
- The Wednesday Before Thanksgiving: One of the heaviest airport crowd days, featuring long security lines, elevated ticket prices, and a high risk of flight delays.
- The Friday/Weekend Before Thanksgiving: Peak departure days like the Friday preceding the holiday also see high airfares and heavy passenger volume.
After seeing the above information, when should you travel if you are flying? I guess leave really early, like on Monday or Tuesday and come back the next Monday. Or, it might be a good idea to actually fly ON the holiday.
WHEN ARE THE WORST TIMES TO DRIVE TO YOUR THANKSGIVING DESTINATION
If you are skipping travel by air, and you are driving somewhere, there are some rotten times to be doing that as well.
From MOD Assisstants:
- Tuesday Before Thanksgiving: Heavy traffic ramps up sharply from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m..
- Wednesday Before Thanksgiving ("Blackout Wednesday"): The busiest pre-holiday traffic window runs from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.. It is also statistically one of the most dangerous nights to drive due to high rates of holiday-related impaired drivers.
- The Sunday After Thanksgiving: Return-trip traffic peaks heavily between 11:00 a.m. and late evening as millions head back home.
- Thanksgiving Day (Mid-day): While overall volume is low, local traffic around parades or dinner hours spikes between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
But for real, these are all of the times when most people would be out traveling, so obviously that is what makes it awful. So, either deal with the stress of holiday travel, or make sure you are adding more time and traveling outside of traditional travel times.
And don't forget the pie!
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