The Busiest Travel Days Around Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week draws major airport crowds, so it can be a brutal time to travel. And in 2024, the number of passengers screened in U.S. airports has already reached all-time highs multiple times. Because the Sunday after Thanksgiving is usually the busiest airport day of the entire year, it’s likely the 2024 Thanksgiving week will also break records.

Between people who are road-tripping or those who are flying, AAA projects 79.9 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period. That's an increase of 1.7 million people from last year's Thanksgiving travel season, and an increase of 2 million people from 2019.

But some days within Thanksgiving week are significantly busier on the roads and at airports than others. If you can be flexible with scheduling, you’ll save money and avoid chaos.

NerdWallet analyzed checkpoint travel numbers from 2021 to 2023 provided by the Transportation Security Administration, which tracks the number of passengers screened daily at U.S. airport checkpoints.

For the period from the Thursday before to the Thursday after Thanksgiving, the data shows that the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the most crowded day to fly. Meanwhile, the least crowded travel day at airports during that time period is Thanksgiving Day.

Here are the three least-crowded days to travel both before and after Thanksgiving, ranked from least to most crowded. Because they're less crowded and likely less expensive, it makes them some of the best days to fly around Thanksgiving.

Pre-holiday:

• Saturday before (least crowded).

• Monday before.

• Thursday before.

Post-holiday:

• Wednesday after (least crowded).

• Tuesday after.

• Black Friday.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving is pretty much the worst day of the year to fly. In 2021, 2022 and 2023 it was the busiest single day of the entire year at U.S. airports, based on TSA passenger data.

Last year, more than 2.9 million people crossed through U.S. airport security checkpoints on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Compare that to Thanksgiving Day, when just 1.5 million people (slightly more than half of Sunday's figures) were at an airport.

The debate between driving versus flying comes down to all sorts of variables behind just drive time and mileage. Factor in the number of people you'll fit in the car, plus the cost of otherwise checking bags.

Just know that more people are expected to be on the roads this Thanksgiving versus last. According to AAA projections, a record 71.7 million people will travel by car over Thanksgiving, which is 1.3 million more travelers on the road versus last year. A big reason for the increase has to do with both gas and rental car prices, which are cheaper this year versus last.

Whereas in 2023, the national average on Thanksgiving Day was $3.26 for a gallon of gas, AAA predicts prices will sit below $3 a gallon this year. And rental car prices have also dropped. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Consumer Price Index data, rental cars are averaging 7% cheaper this year versus last.

If you do drive on Thanksgiving Day, there's a best and worst time to hit the road. According to data provided to NerdWallet by Google Maps, peak traffic hours on Thanksgiving are between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Traffic patterns are slightly different the day after Thanksgiving. Presumably because people are out doing mid-day Black Friday shopping, the Google Maps team expects that roads will be most crowded between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the day after Thanksgiving.

If you work a standard Monday to Friday workweek with two days off for the holiday, then leaving Wednesday after work and flying home on Sunday can make sense. Most people following this schedule to avoid taking extra time off. But this itinerary could cost you more money, because the busiest days to fly are usually the most expensive, too.

So how can you choose a better Thanksgiving travel itinerary to save money? Avoid the Wednesday to Sunday itinerary and try these travel days instead.

Travel on Thanksgiving Day

Across travel days for the week before and after Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day was the lowest-traffic day every year in our analysis. Book the first flight out for the day — a practice NerdWallet recommends anyway to reduce your odds of a flight delay — and you might even land in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

Stay longer

Consider extending your trip. The Wednesday after Thanksgiving is, on average, the least busy day to travel post-holiday, among the days we looked at in our analysis. Especially if you can work remotely, you might be able to avoid taking vacation days, despite the longer trip.

Fly on Black Friday

If you must travel during the weekend, consider having Thanksgiving dinner at your own home, then flying somewhere on Black Friday, which is the third-least crowded day to fly on average. Look at it as a great way to not only avoid airport crowds but also retail crowds since you won’t be out shopping.