Avoid the busiest days to drive, fly over the Thanksgiving holiday

The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday period is projected to be the busiest on record with nearly 80 million people traveling over 50 miles from home, according to auto club AAA.

The potentially record-setting holiday could be hampered by bad weather, which forecasters say could hit much of the country.

Illinois and most of the continental U.S. have an elevated chance of precipitation and below-average temperatures over the holidays, according to the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center.

"It's a little early to give details about if that active weather hits us before, on or after the holiday," says Gino Izzy, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's office in suburban Romeoville. But there is a potential for active weather remains across the country, he said.

Here's a guide to help you avoid the busiest travel days and plan for the smoothest trip possible.

What is the heaviest traffic day for Thanksgiving?

Nearly 90% of people traveling this holiday will do so by car, according to AAA.

Traffic is expected to peak during the afternoons on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, according to AAA. Traffic is expected to be light on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28.

After the holiday, the busiest driving days are Friday morning, Saturday evening, Sunday afternoon and all day Monday, Dec. 2. Drive earlier in the morning to avoid the largest backups, according to the AAA.

The worst traffic in the Chicago area is projected to be along Interstate 65, from Indianapolis to Chicago, on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 1, according to AAA. That trip, usually a three-hour drive, will take over four hours.

A record 71.7 million people will travel by car between Tuesday, Nov. 26, and Monday, Dec. 2, according to AAA. That's 1.3 million more travelers on the road compared with last year and surpasses the 70.6 million who drove over the holiday in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gas prices are lower this Thanksgiving compared with last year. The national average last Thanksgiving Day was $3.26 per gallon. Falling oil prices may push the national average below $3 a gallon for the first time since 2021, according to AAA.

For those renting a car, the busiest pickup day is expected to be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, according to AAA. The busiest rental return days are the Monday and Tuesday after the holiday.

What is the busiest day to fly?

Air travel is also expected to break records this holiday. The Transportation Security Administration says it expects to screen 18.3 million people between Tuesday, Nov. 26, and Monday, Dec. 2. That's an increase of 6% over last year.

The busiest days at airports are the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and the Sunday after the holiday, according to TSA projections.

More than 2.8 million people are expected to fly on Tuesday, 2.9 million on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and more than 3 million people on Sunday, Dec. 1, according to the agency.

Midway Airport is expected to have 7.2% more passengers between Friday, Nov. 22, and Monday, Dec. 2, according to an analysis of TSA data by online travel booking company Luxury Link.

O'Hare Airport should see a 3.9% increase in passengers over last year, which is below the nationwide airport bump in travel of 6%, according to the analysis.

The TSA expects to break an all-time daily record for passenger volume set on Sunday, July 7, when it screened more than 3 million people nationwide.

Air travelers are paying 3% more for domestic flights over the holiday compared with last year, according to AAA. International flight bookings are up 23% from to last year, partly because international flight costs are down 5%.

Travel tips

• Avoid car trouble: AAA predicts 8% of people traveling by car over the holiday — or 580,000 people — will have some type of mechanical trouble. The three most common calls AAA receives are for flat tires, dead batteries and lockouts. Check for under-inflated tires (the main reason for blowouts) and a weak battery (car batteries typically have a life of three to five years).
• Consider your safety when driving the evening before Thanksgiving, when drunk driving crashes typically spike. In 2022, 100 drivers were involved in fatal traffic crashes on Thanksgiving eve — 35% of those drivers were drunk, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
• Grabbing a Lyft or Uber to or from the airport? At O'Hare, drivers can drop off at any terminal, but they will most often pick up passengers at Terminal 2. Rides on both apps can be scheduled days ahead of time.
• Avoid the stress of missing a flight by arriving to the airport at least two hours before a flight, leaving plenty of time to pass through security.
• If you're leaving the country, AAA suggests notifying credit card providers of travel plans to reduce the risk of cards being frozen due to unusual activity.
• For Chicago airport departures, know the airport codes — ORD for O'Hare and MDW for Midway — to ensure you're headed to the right airport.
• O'Hare's Terminal 5 is known as the international terminal. But it would better to be called the “international arrivals terminal,” since some carriers regularly run international flights out of terminals 1, 2 and 3, according to Jon Ziomek, a volunteer at Travelers Aid Chicago, wrote in the Sun-Times last year.