AAA Predicts Second-Busiest Thanksgiving Travel Season On Record

AAA’s annual travel forecast predicts the second-busiest travel season — nationwide and in Wisconsin — since the organization started keeping track in 2000.

Over 55 million people are expected to travel, and more than 1.1 million of them are Wisconsinites.

AAA has deemed Wednesday afternoon to be the worst time to travel nationwide, on the same day the northern part of Wisconsin is under a winter storm warning.

Keeping all that in mind, the biggest piece of advice AAA director of public affairs Nick Jarmusz has is to stay calm.

“Take your time. Pack a lot of patience,” he said. “It can be very frustrating, but just (understand) that everyone’s in the same boat. You’re all sharing the road together. You’re probably all on the road for the same purpose, and we just need to all try and get there as safely as we can.”

AAA defines the Thanksgiving holiday as the five-day period from Wednesday, Nov. 27 to Sunday, Dec. 1, and tracks the people who will travel 50 miles or more away from home.

The forecast expects an additional 1.6 million people will travel this year compared to 2018. In Wisconsin, AAA predicts a boost for air travel, with a 5.4 percent increase from 2018.

“What we would most likely attribute it to is just general economic improvements, people feeling more comfortable and confident spending the money necessary to fly,” said Jarmusz.

Jarmusz also credited expanded direct flight options from Wisconsin’s airports.

“If you can make a direct flight and it’s a little more cost effective, then that might change versus a flight where there’s gonna be multiple legs, with changeovers in other airports, and at that point, a lot of people figure, ‘Well, I just might as well drive,’” Jarmusz said.

If you’re driving to or through Chicago, avoid the city between about 4 and 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when Jarmusz predicted peak congestion.

“You’re gonna have folks trying to make their trip, they wanna get there a day early, they don’t like traveling on the holiday. And those folks are also gonna be mixing in with your typical Wednesday afternoon commuters who maybe are just coming home from downtown,” said Jarmusz.

Before your road trip begins, make sure the car is in good condition, and watch out for dead batteries, flat tires and getting locked out of the car, the forecast cautions.

And if you already can’t wait for next year’s holiday journeys, remember that starting on Oct. 1, 2020, you will need a Real ID driver’s license to board domestic flights.