More than 46 million travelers expected during Thanksgiving holiday

World Today

Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. is just a day away. Aside from eating and being with family, the holiday also marks the official kickoff to one of the busiest periods for retailers and the travel industry. CCTV America’s Bianca Davie reported this story from Washington D.C.

Thanksgiving is a day for food, family and football. And for many, it’s about leaving town. More than 46 million Americans will travel by planes, trains, and automobiles to eat elaborate turkey dinners with family and friends and watch American football games.

“Consumers are just more confident about the economy,” AAA President and Chief Operating Officer Marshall Doney said, “It’s helping fuel consumers’ expectations and drive the increase of Thanksgiving travel.”

According to travel group, AAA, 90 percent of travelers will get to their destinations by car, and their road trips come as gasoline prices reach their lowest level of the year.

A new government report found that gas is now at an average of $2.82 per gallon, the cheapest gas has been during Thanksgiving in five years.

U.S. airports are seeing a steady flow of traffic as well. About 3.5 million people will take to the skies for the holiday, the airline industry’s highest number for Thanksgiving passengers since 2007.

With a rain and snowstorms blasting the East Coast, thousands of travelers are facing flight delays. The industry’s message for anxious flyers is to be patient.

“We’d rather have people wait out storms at their homes as opposed to being stuck at the airport,” said Jean Medina at Airlines For America, a airline trade association.

Weather officials are warning Black Friday shoppers in several states, including New York and Pennsylvania, to brace for a bit of ice and chilly temperatures as they join the crowds in search of a good bargain.


Sunday, not Tuesday, may be cheapest day to fly

Weekends used to be the most expensive times to buy a flight ticket, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. CCTV America’s Owen Fairclough reported this story from Washington D.C.

The Airlines Reporting Corporation, an airline technology solutions company, analyzed 130 million domestic and international round-trip tickets over a period of 19 months and found that the cheapest average ticket was $43 and was bought on a Sunday. The cheapest average ticket on a Tuesday, traditionally the cheapest day of the week to buy tickets, was $497.

Analysts said that business travel is driving mid-week purchase prices up and advise leisure travelers to book early.

“We saw that the lowest prices for the ticket were purchased domestically two months out for domestic travel and for international travel, six months out, and we also found the lowest priced tickets were purchased on Sunday with the idea that most of those tickets are leisure,” said Peter Azbug, a spokesperson for the Airlines Reporting Corporation.


Seth Kaplan of Airline Weekly discusses holiday rush at the airports

CCTV America interviewed Seth Kaplan, managing partner at Airline Weekly, about how to navigate busy airports during the start of the holiday season.