Thanksgiving travel tips: Best and worst days to fly or drive

Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — A record number of Americans are expected to travel for Thanksgiving this year, AAA said.

AAA predicts 81.8 million people will travel during the holiday period (between Tuesday, Nov. 25, and Monday, Dec. 1), which is a 1.6 million jump from last year.

Thanksgiving — which falls on Thursday, Nov. 27 — comes just weeks after the 43-day-long government shutdown that caused massive flight cancellations across the country, but airlines say they’re not expecting any residual impacts during the holiday.

Here’s what you need to know:

Air travel
AAA anticipates 6 million people will fly within the U.S. over Thanksgiving — up 2% from 2024.

Sunday, Nov. 30, is predicted to be the busiest air travel day, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium, with 3,280,652 domestic seats.

But flight bookings for Nov. 26 through Nov. 30 are down 3.3% compared to last year, Cirium said, likely due to uncertainty from the government shutdown.

American Airlines says it will operate more than 80,000 flights over the Thanksgiving period, with its busiest day expected to be Sunday, Nov. 30.

United Airlines said it is expecting its highest number of Thanksgiving travelers ever this year. The airline warned that its busiest days are forecast to be Sunday, Nov. 30, Saturday, Nov. 29, and Monday, Dec. 1.

The busiest U.S. airports are expected to be Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Denver International Airport, according to Hopper.

Road travel
AAA predicts at least 73 million people — nearly 90% of Thanksgiving travelers — will go by car to their destination.

Renting a car this Thanksgiving will be 15% cheaper than last year, according to AAA.

The busiest days on the roads are expected to be Tuesday, Nov. 25; Wednesday, Nov. 26; and Sunday, Nov. 30, AAA said.

The best time to hit the road ahead of Thanksgiving is before noon on Tuesday, Nov. 25, or before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 26, according to analytics company INRIX. Traffic will also be light on Thanksgiving Day.

When you’re heading home, the best times to drive are: before 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 28; before 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29; before 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30; or after 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1, INRIX said.