Thanksgiving 2018: Worst Dates And Times To Travel In America's Biggest Cities

Thanksgiving weekend is the biggest travel day of the year and this year will see even higher volumes of traffic than ever before. According to AAA, an estimated 54.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more during the holiday weekend. This is up by 2.5 million people over last year’s numbers and will make roadways and airports even more crowded.

For those looking to fly this 2018 Thanksgiving weekend, you won’t be alone as nearly 4.3 million people will be traveling by plane, according to AAA. Data from the organization indicated that the Tuesday and Wednesday before the holiday will be the most popular travel days with higher ticket prices offered.

If you are looking to save a little money on your holiday travels, you might want to opt to depart on Thanksgiving Day as AAA has said that is the lightest day to travel by plane and the day you will get the lowest average fare price.

High congestion will occur throughout the entire Thanksgiving week as leisure travelers will have to contend with commuters, according to a report by road traffic and driver service provider INRIX in conjunction with AAA. The company said the best days to travel by car are on Thanksgiving Day or the Friday and Saturday after.

If you are traveling to or from a big city, there are some efforts you can make to reduce the hassle and congestion during this holiday weekend. Houston is a popular hotspot and travelers will want to avoid traveling on Monday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. as INRIX has pinpointed this as one of the worst times to travel by plane or on the interstate.

Tuesday will be the worst time to travel through Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, Washington, D.C.; Detroit, and New York. Boston and Seattle travelers should avoid the peak hours of 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Atlanta and Washington, D.C. travelers should avoid heading out between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., according to INREX. Detroit travelers want to avoid traveling between the hours of 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 pm., while New York travelers will do better staying away from the high-volume hours of 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Other large cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles will have holiday travelers wanting to avoid Wednesday as their main travel day, according to INREX. San Francisco travelers will want to rearrange their schedule avoid the peak hours of 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and Chicago and Los Angeles travelers will do best staying away from the 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. hours for their holiday travel during the long weekend.