Skift Take
Thanksgiving this year is shaping up to be a monster travel period, with decreasing inflation helping push more travelers to hit the road for the holiday.
Americans are projected to travel in large numbers for Thanksgiving: Close to 80 million travelers will venture 50 miles or more from home over the holiday period, according to travel organization AAA.
That’s 79.9 million to be exact – 1.7 million more than last year and 2 million more than 2019. AAA’s 2024 forecast includes the Tuesday before and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day. Previous forecasts counted travel from Wednesday to Sunday.
“Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel, and this year we’re expecting to set new records across the board, from driving to flying and cruising,” said Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel.
The organization anticipates a record 71.1 million people will travel by car — 1.3 million more than 2023. AAA also expects a record for Thanksgiving air travel. It projects 5.84 million people will fly domestically, a 2% increase from last year and a roughly 11% jump from 2019.
Perhaps one reason why more Americans are expected to take to the skies for Thanksgiving is a slight increase in confidence that airlines will be able to avoid disruptions. Although a recent survey by travel news site The Vacationer found nearly 46% of American adults express little or no confidence that airlines will avoid delays and cancellations this holiday season, that’s actually an improvement from last year, when 59% had little or no confidence.
Eric Jones, co-founder of The Vacationer and a Rowan College of South Jersey professor who has conducted studies and surveys on travel, believes Americans are more trusting in airlines as the extensive coverage of Southwest Airlines’ 2022 holiday meltdown is further retreating from travelers’ minds.
“That is now another year in the past, so I think some travelers have forgotten about it which is why 2024’s survey shows Americans are more trusting in airlines,” Jones said.
Jones added that more Americans are planning to travel as inflation and the cost of items such as gas continue to drop. AAA projects that the average price of gas could fall below $3 a gallon on Thanksgiving Day for the first time since 2001. The national average was $3.26 per gallon last year.
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