How to Avoid Traffic (and Crowds in General) During Thanksgiving Travel

Stressful airport crowds and bumper-to-bumper highway traffic is increasingly becoming a Thanksgiving tradition, on par with roasted turkey and football games.

But 2024 will truly be a banner year in terms of mass travel: Nearly 80 million people plan to travel for Thanksgiving, according to predictions from AAA released on Monday. The number of Turkey Day travelers is expected to shatter all previous records. In fact, AAA says that 2 million more people will travel 50 miles or more away from home in 2024 than in 2019, before the pandemic.

In order to get even more accurate predictions, the organization included the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Monday after the holiday in its predictions for the first time ever. “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,” Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel Services, said in a statement.

Read on for tips on how best to avoid the crowds and Thanksgiving traffic when traveling during holiday week, whether you’re planning a trip by car, train, or plane.

Road trips

The bulk of travelers—a whopping 71.7 million people—are expected to take a road trip this Thanksgiving, according to AAA. That’s 1.3 million more people traveling by car than in 2023.

That means traffic will also be at an all-time high during the holiday travel period. “With a record number of travelers expected to be on the road, drivers should follow traffic apps and local news alerts to avoid major delays,” Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at Inrix, which works with AAA on traffic predictions, said in a statement. “This is especially important for drivers in metropolitan areas like Boston, New York, LA, Seattle, and Washington, DC, where traffic is expected to be more than double what it typically is on a normal day.”

A good rule of thumb is to avoid driving during the middle of the day and early evening. The worst departure times are expected to be the Monday (November 25) and Wednesday (November 27) before Thanksgiving from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesday (November 26) from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Inrix data shows that the best times to head out on your road trip include early morning on the Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday before Thanksgiving—anytime before 10 a.m. should see less traffic. Returning home, aim to hit the road before 1 p.m. on the following Saturday and Sunday, and you’ll beat the worst of the highway congestion. A minimal amount of traffic is expected on Thanksgiving Day itself, making it an ideal road trip day if you have flexible plans.