The 2024 Thanksgiving travel period is here. Many Americans who are celebrating the holiday this week are expected to kick off their journeys today.
According to recent data from AAA, Thanksgiving 2024 will be the busiest travel period for the holiday on record, with 79.9 million people making journeys of 50 miles or more from their homes. That’s 1.7 million more than last year and two million more than pre-pandemic times in 2019.
Unfortunately, not all of these journeys will go smoothly, whether you’re traveling by car, plane, bus, or train. But if you are taking to the roadways, you may be able to increase your chances of a smoother trip if you travel at certain times of the day both to and from your Thanksgiving destination.
That’s according to AAA and transportation data and insights provider INRIX, which ran the numbers to see when the roads would be the most and least busy over the upcoming days.
Tuesday and Wednesday will be the busiest days for travel congestion, the data shows. However, there are some sweet spots you can choose when traffic won’t be quite as bad:
Best times to travel by car for the 2024 Thanksgiving period
According to INRIX data, the most optimal times to be on the road over the Thanksgiving holidays are as follows:
- Tuesday, November 26: Before 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, November 27: Before 10 a.m.
- Thursday, November 28 (Thanksgiving): Minimal traffic is expected all day
- Friday, November 29: After 1 p.m.
- Saturday, November 30: Before 1 p.m.
- Sunday, December 1: Before 1 p.m.
- Monday, December 2: Before 8 a.m. or after 7 p.m.
Worst times to travel by car for the 2024 Thanksgiving period
Can’t make your journey during the best times above? Then, you should aim to avoid the following periods below if possible. These are the times traffic congestion is expected to be the worst over the Thanksgiving holiday period:
- Tuesday, November 26: 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, November 27: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Thursday, November 28 (Thanksgiving): Minimal traffic is expected all day
- Friday, November 29: 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.
- Saturday, November 30: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Sunday, December 1: 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- Monday, December 2: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
All modes of Thanksgiving travel see increases
AAA says a total of 79.86 million people will travel over this Thanksgiving holiday period, which it defines as the seven days from Tuesday, November 26, to Monday, December 2. But obviously not all of those journeys take place by car. Yet no matter if it’s by car, plane, train, or even boat, all modes of transportation are seeing an increase this year, according to AAA:
- Auto: 71.74 million (up 1.9% from 2023)
- Air: 5.84 million (up 2.1% from 2023)
- Other: 2.28 million (up 8.9% from 2023)
While auto and air travel are seeing decent gains this year, the top growing mode of travel is “Other,” up nearly 9% from last year.
So, just what is “Other?” AAA says this mode of transportation includes buses, trains, and cruises. It is the latter, AAA says, that is driving the explosive growth in this category. The organization says cruise bookings are up 20% this Thanksgiving period compared to last year.