AAA projects that almost 51 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving, a 3.3 percent increase over last year. The 2017 holiday weekend will see the highest Thanksgiving travel volume since 2005 with 1.6 million more people taking to the nation’s roads, skies, rails and waterways compared with last year. The automotive group predicts that travel times increase by as much as three times the nominal trip.
“Thanksgiving kicks off the start of a busy holiday season, and more thankful Americans will travel to spend time with friends and family this year,” said Bill Sutherland, AAA senior vice president, Travel and Publishing. “A strong economy and labor market are generating rising incomes and higher consumer confidence, fueling a strong year for the travel industry, which will continue into the holiday season.”
89% of travelers, 45.5 million, are planning to travel by car during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period from Wednesday, Nov. 22 to Sunday, Nov. 26. And an additional 3.95 million people will hit the airports for turkey day travel.
Good planning can avoid some of the worst travel delay issues. AAA rates lockouts, flat tires and battery issues as the primary causes for missed flights or road delays. 330,000 travelers can expect rescues by the automobile club according to a statement on the organization’s website.
AAA rated Tuesday as the worst day to travel from, to or through Chicago, San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Detroit and Washington D.C. while Wednesday was expected to be most troublesome for Atlanta and Houston.
| Worst Time to Travel | |||
| Metro Area | Worst Day for Travel | Worst Time for 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 |
Many of those same cities will have the most congested thoroughfares in the U.S.:
| Top Traffic Hotspot in America’s Most Congested Cities | ||
| Rank | City | Location |
| 1 | Los Angeles, CA | I-5 S at Valley View Ave |
| 2 | New York, NY | I-495 E at NY-106/NY-107 |
| 3 | San Francisco, CA | I-80 E at Pinole Valley Rd |
| 4 | Atlanta, GA | I-75 N at Chastain Rd |
| 5 | Miami, FL | I-95 N at Congress Ave |
| 6 | Washington, DC | I-95 S at US-17/US-1 |
| 7 | Dallas, TX | US-75 S at I-45/I-3 |
| 8 | Boston, MA | I-90 W at I-84/US-20 |
| 9 | Chicago, IL | I-90 W at I-190 |
| 10 | Seattle, WA | I-405 S at WA-167 |
For those traveling by airplane, Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning are expected to offer the largest headaches just trying to get to the airport.
| 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 |
