Pack your patience! Airports and roads may be jam-packed this year as AAA predicts 53.4 million people will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, up 13% from 2020. As restrictions continue to lift and consumer confidence builds, AAA urges travelers to be proactive when making their travel plans this holiday season.

“Travel volumes have recovered within 5% of pre-pandemic levels, and air travel has almost entirely recovered from its dramatic decline during, up 80% over last year,” said Aldo Vazquez, spokesperson for AAA Montana. “Those traveling this Thanksgiving can expect to face more crowded roads and airports than they’ve seen in some time.” 

With 6.4 million more people traveling this Thanksgiving coupled with the recent opening of the U.S. borders to fully vaccinated international travelers—people should prepare for roads and airports to be noticeably more crowded