Experts predict record-setting travel this Thanksgiving week
SAN FRANCISCO -- Nationally, this Thanksgiving could produce one of the busiest travel periods in history, with an estimated 55 million people traveling, according to AAA projections. In California, AAA predicts this will be a record-setter, with nearly 7.5 million people expected to travel.
Friday marked the official start for the Thanksgiving travel period. While Day One was quite busy, it seemed to go smoothly at Oakland International Airport. That was the experience of Booker Hatcher and his mom, visiting from Chicago.
"Because we got up early. We took the first flight out of Chicago so it was pretty cool," Hatcher said.
It was a quick up and down for Peggy Parrish as well, in from Southern California.
"We had no problem getting to LAX and our flight was 25 minutes early," she said.
Between this past Friday and the Monday after Thanksgiving, Oakland Airport leaders project around 360,000 passengers will come through the airport. That's an increase from last year, according to spokesperson Kaley Skantz.
"We are expecting this to be about 85 percent of 2019 traffic. That's about 2 percent over what we saw last year for the same period," Skantz said.
Airports will be busy but the vast majority of travelers will be hitting the roads.
"Of the 7.5 million people [in California] expected to be traveling for Thanksgiving, more than 6.38 million are going to be traveling by car," AAA spokesman Julian Paredes said. "So, it's definitely going to be busy on the roads."
Paredes says Wednesday will likely be the busiest day of the travel period.
"If you do have to travel that day, it's really, really smart to plan ahead and start your day early. The noon-to-6 p.m. hours are going to absolutely be the busiest," he said. "You can pretty much guarantee that wherever you're going is going to be really busy, with 55 million people traveling."
For those who are driving, they can expect to pay a little less at the pump this year than they did last year.
According to AAA figures, the average price for a gallon of regular gas in San Francisco on Saturday was $5.15, down from $5.50 a year ago; in Oakland, $5.02, down from $5.36 a year ago and, in San Jose, $4.92, down from $5.41 a year ago.
"Before any road trip it's always really smart to do some basic checks on your car," Paredes said. "Tire blowouts and your car battery -- those are some of the most common reasons why people need to call AAA for assistance."