Thanksgiving travel may break records, but high gas prices means less drivers

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Airports brace for delays amid surge in Thanksgiving travel

AAA estimates more than 54 million Americans will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday; Mike Tobin reports from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

CHICAGO – If you are headed over the river and through the woods for Thanksgiving, you are not alone. Holiday travel is once again expected to push into record territory, with more than 54 million people expected to jump on planes trains and automobiles traveling more than 50 miles to get to the big family feast.

About 4.7 million people are expected to travel by air over the weekend. So, knowing they will all need to go through security screening, the Transportation Safety Administration is asking domestic travelers to show up at the airport two hours before their flights and international travelers three hours prior to departure.

Travelers line up for a security checkpoint at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018, in New York. The airline industry trade group Airlines for America expects that Wednesday will be the second busiest day of the holiday period behind only Sunday, when many travelers will be returning home after Thanksgiving. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

The TSA will do its part by increasing staff at the checkpoints.

“We're going to have all lanes operational. We're going to have an overtime budget that has been allocated for additional hours,” said TSA Regional Director Steve Lorincz. “We're going to make sure that we process our passengers not only safely – but efficiently.”

So far, travelers are not seeing big delays.

“We’re going to have a great holiday,” said Zaki Munid while sailing through an airport. “We’re going to do a little Black Friday shopping and have some good food.”

AAA says it’s the economy that is causing more people to show up at the airport and putting more cars on the road.

“People have money in their pockets,” said AAA spokesman Robert Sinclair. “Disposable [income] is up. Consumer confidence is up, and we have a little time built in our schedules.”

Travelers wait in line to board a bus ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Most holiday travelers, 48 million of them, will be traveling by car. However, that number should be down from last year simply because gas is more expensive. There was a dramatic drop in gas prices during October, but the price was so high going into that, gasbuddy.com is still predicting the national average to be $2.57 per gallon, the highest since 2014.

The website had made a prediction for highway travel to be down by 15 percent but now expects drivers to make an impulse decision to fill up the tank.

“It’s still likely to be the priciest Thanksgiving in the last four years,” said Patrick DeHann, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Though with the recent plunge at the pump, I would anticipate some last-minute travelers.”