Thanksgiving travel begins as AAA predicts record-breaking numbers

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- "It's a good day to travel," said Noa Weiswasser from Sonoma, California.

Some passengers are packed and ready to embark on their journey to their Thanksgiving destination.

AAA projects 79.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home over the holiday travel period which is up 1.7 million people compared to last year.

Bahareh Van Boekhold from Newark, Delaware purposely flew to Utah on Sunday evening because of prices, flexibility and to avoid the holiday travel rush at the Philadelphia International Airport.

"I travel a lot for work and sometimes checking in bags could be very stressful," said Van Boekhold. "It has been very smooth. Everybody was nice."

"It seems pretty mellow honestly. We just got here, lots of hospitality and actually, it was pretty easy going so far," said Ari Weiswasser who lives in Sonoma, California.

Philadelphia International Airport anticipates 1.04 million passengers will walk through the terminals between November 22 and December 3rd, an increase of 12 percent over last year.

Airport officials predict the Saturday, Sunday and Monday after Thanksgiving to be the busiest days.

"The flight tickets were just really expensive, so I decided that driving was more cost effective," said Betty Brown from Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Brown will be behind the wheel on Tuesday to drive 14 hours from Arkansas to North Carolina.

AAA said Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon are the worst times to travel.

"I'm a little nervous because I'm tired from the conference, but I'm excited to see my grandparents so it's definitely worth the drive," said Brown.

AAA expects a record 71.7 million people will travel by vehicle, but won't feel as much pain at the pump.

Gas prices are down this Thanksgiving compared to last year.

"It's kinda nice to just go somewhere on the holidays," said Ari. "There might still be some pent up demand."

In fact, AAA said it continues to see travel demand soar post pandemic.

A big reason: "It's Thanksgiving, and people just want to be with their families," said Noa.