Thanksgiving, that time of year when millions of Americans hit the road to see family and eat turkey! The 2017 Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see the highest Thanksgiving travel volume since 2005 . It’s projected that 50.9 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving, a 3.3 percent increase over last year. 1.6 million more people taking to the nation’s roads, skies, rails and waterways , many more than last year. During the holiday week, travel times could be as much as three times longer than the optimal trip! The Thanksgiving holiday travel period is defined as Wednesday, Nov. 22 to Sunday, Nov. 26.
It’s important to be Road trip ready! 89 percent of all travelers – 45.5 million – are planning a Thanksgiving road trip, that’s an increase of 3.2 percent more than last year. Did you know that drivers will pay the highest Thanksgiving gas prices since 2014. If you don’t have your own car and need to rent one, car rental daily rates will hit a five-year holiday high at $70/day, which maybe because of an increase in domestic demand and cost of newer vehicles.
Here is a quick list of the WORST times to travel:
| Worst Time to Travel | |||
| Metro Area | Worst Day for Travel | Worst Timefor Travel | Delay Multiplier |
| Chicago, IL | Tuesday | 5:00 – 6:00 PM | 3x |
| San Francisco, CA | Tuesday | 4:00 – 5:45 PM | 2.5X |
| Los Angeles, CA | Tuesday | 3:15 – 6:00 PM | 2.5x |
| Boston, MA | Tuesday | 5:15 – 7:15 PM | 2.5x |
| New York, NY | Tuesday | 5:30 – 6:30 PM | 2x |
| Washington, DC | Tuesday | 4:45 – 6:00 PM | 2x |
| Seattle, WA | Tuesday | 3:45 – 5:30 PM | 2x |
| Atlanta, GA | Wednesday | 3:00 – 5:15 PM | 2x |
| Houston, TX | Wednesday | 5:45 – 7:00 PM | 1x |
| Detroit, MI | Tuesday | 3:00 – 5:30 PM | 1x |
If you are planning on flying out of town here is a quick list of times to major airports:
| Worst Travel Times to America’s Busiest Airports | |||
| Metro Area | Airport Route | Worst Timefor Travel | Travel Timeat Peak |
| New York, NY | Downtown to JFK via Long Island Expressway East | Tuesday, 5:30 – 7:30 PM |
1 hr 54 min |
| Chicago, IL | Downtown to ORD via Kennedy Expressway West | Tuesday, 4:30 – 5:30 PM |
1 hr 14 min |
| Denver, CO | Downtown to DIA via I-70 E and Pena Blvd | Wednesday, 4:30 – 6:30 PM |
52 min |
| Los Angeles, CA | Downtown to LAX via I-110 S | Tuesday, 4:30 – 6:30 PM |
46 min |
| Dallas, TX | Downtown to DFW via TX-183 W | Wednesday, 8:00 – 9:00 AM |
46 min |
| Las Vegas, NV | Downtown to LAS via I-15 S | Wednesday, 8:00 – 9:00 AM |
45 min |
| San Francisco, CA | Downtown to SFO via US-101 S | Tuesday, 5:00 – 7:00 PM |
29 min |
| Seattle, WA | Downtown to SEA via I-5 S | Tuesday, 3:00 – 5:00 PM |
29 min |
| Charlotte, NC | Downtown to CLT via US-74 W | Wednesday, 1:00 – 3:00 PM |
19 min |
| Atlanta, GA | Downtown to ALT via I-75 S | Wednesday, 5:00 – 7:00 PM |
12 min |
So where ever you are planning to go this Holiday weekend make sure you leave yourself plenty of time. Make sure that you have enough gas, snacks, and water. And as always, DRIVE SAFE!