Thanksgiving Travel Tips

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday and a great time of year, where, in most of the country, the weather hasn’t reached unbearably cold temperatures yet and beautiful foliage can still be enjoyed from the windows of the car, train or plane window as you travel to visit family and friends.

That being said, it is also one of the busiest times of the year to travel; 2016 marked the busiest year for Thanksgiving in nearly a decade, and 2017 is shaping up to see even higher numbers.

Here are some tips if you’re planning to travel for the upcoming holiday.

Scope out deals. Thanksgiving offers some of the best deals all year, with great flight, hotel and car rental bundles. Warm-weather destinations also tend to offer good hotel and resort rates as well, worth jumping on before prices skyrocket in the winter.

Fly on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Believe it or not, flying on Thanksgiving tends to be a safer bet than flying on the days surrounding the holiday. Congestion, prices and delays are higher in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, but come the day of, most people already reached their destination. Plus, if you’re flying on Black Friday, you can take advantage of great deals at airport shops.

Stay healthy. Nothing ruins the holidays like a bad cold. Thanksgiving is a big travel time, meaning there are a lot of people moving through airports, train stations and rest stops. Plus, with colder weather moving in, germs are inevitable. Wash your hands frequently, drink a lot more water and up the Vitamin C intake.

Be flexible. This advice is relevant for all travel, but especially so during the holidays. With more people traveling and higher chances for inclement weather, the chances of flight delays and cancellations, traffic problems and other issues are also much higher. Plan ahead as much as possible, and be flexible about the rest.