Seventy-three million people will travel by car at least 50 miles from home over the Thanksgiving holiday period from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). Car travel accounts for nearly 90% of all travel formats during this time. It’s also an additional 1.3 million people on the road compared with last Thanksgiving.
At the pump, drivers are paying about the same as last year, when the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.06 on Thanksgiving Day, said AAA, Washington, D.C.
“Thanksgiving travel numbers are always impressive because this holiday has become synonymous with heading out of town to spend time with loved ones,” said Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel. “People are willing to brave the crowds and make last-minute adjustments to their plans to make lifelong memories, whether it’s visiting extended family or meeting up with friends.”
Car travel might increase if some air travelers decide to drive instead of fly following recent flight cancellations. According to AAA, 6 million U.S. travelers are expected to take domestic flights over the Thanksgiving holiday period, a 2% increase compared with 2024. The number of Thanksgiving air travelers over the past several years—with the exception of 2020—has been between 5 and 6 million.
This year’s overall domestic travel, including by car, plane, train or other forms of travel, totals 81.8 million people, which is an additional 1.6 million travelers compared with last Thanksgiving, setting a new overall record. Thanksgiving is the single busiest holiday for travel compared with others like Memorial Day and Fourth of July.
INRIX, a provider of transportation data and insights based in Kirkland, Washington, expects Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon to be the most congested periods before Thanksgiving Day. Travelers returning home on Sunday should expect heavy traffic most of the day.
The top U.S. state people are traveling to is Florida, specifically to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Internationally, the top destinations are a mix of Europe, the Caribbean and Australia.
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