AAA: Nearly 82 Million Travelers Expected Over Thanksgiving Holiday Period

Around 90 percent of those travelers will be motorists.

Shutterstock photo.

NATIONWIDE - AAA is projecting more travelers will hit the road for the Thanksgiving holiday period than last year. 

A projected 81.8 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home between Tuesday, November 25 and Monday, December 1. 

That is a 1.6 million traveler increase from a year prior, setting a new overall record. 

AAA projects at least 73 million people will travel by car, which makes up nearly 90 percent of Thanksgiving travelers. 

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. AAA recommends filling your tank the night before a road trip since it's one less thing to do on travel day. 

AAA also recommends checking your battery and tire pressure. Last Thanksgiving holiday period, AAA responded to nearly 600,000 emergency roadside assistance calls to help stranded drivers with dead batteries, flat tires, and empty fuel tanks. 

By air, six million U.S. travelers are expected. That is a two percent increase compared to 2024. 

Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon are expected to be the most congested travel days. Travelers returning home on Sunday should expect heavy traffic most of the day. 

For more information, visit Nearly 82 Million Americans Projected to Travel over Thanksgiving | AAA Newsroom

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