LAX, Southern California's Thanksgiving travel rush — here are the busiest times to drive and fly
With the Thanksgiving travel rush in full swing, traffic outside Los Angeles International Airport came to a halt Wednesday morning, a day before the holiday, but experts say some of the busiest travel days in Southern California are still ahead.
LAX, the second busiest airport in the nation last year, is expected to see more than 2.2 million passengers pass through between Nov. 21 — the Thursday before Thanksgiving — and Dec. 2, Monday, according to Los Angeles World Airports. The roads were packed just outside the airport around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27, while it was a calmer scene inside at a United Airlines terminal, where a worker described the atmosphere as "busy but manageable" even as longer lines piled up in other parts of the airport.
As for traffic along roads and freeways, the Automobile Club of Southern California projects more than 6.5 million SoCal residents will drive 50 miles or more between Tuesday, Nov. 26 and Monday, Dec. 2.
And AAA says some travel days are expected to break records.
Thanksgiving travel to surpass pre-pandemic levels
The more than 6.5 million Southern Californians expected to drive more than 50 miles marks a 2.8% increase from the record-breaking number of travelers last year. But the number of drivers this year is also even more than 2019, before the pandemic slowed travel in the years following with worldwide shutdowns. The number of SoCal travelers expected by AAA this year is 3.5% higher than the 6.4 million seen in 2019.
Travel by car is expected by AAA to reach an all-time high for the Thanksgiving holiday. There are a record-breaking 79.86 million travelers projected, surpassing 78.1 million in 2023 and 77.8 million in 2019 — again beating pre-pandemic levels.
Air travel is also forecasted to break records, with AAA projecting more than 5.8 million people will fly domestically, an uptick of 2% from last year and a nearly 11% increase from the number seen before the pandemic in 2019.
Another nearly 2.3 million people are expected to travel by other means of transportation, such as trains and cruises, marking a 9% rise from last year and a jump of 18% from 2019, according to AAA.
Busiest times to drive in SoCal
The evening of Wednesday, Nov. 27 — right before Thanksgiving — along the northbound I-5 Freeway between Los Angeles and Bakersfield is expected to see the "worst traffic congestion in Southern California" over the week of the holiday, according to AAA. The travel time between the two California cities is projected to nearly double to more than four hours, AAA says, citing data from the transportation analytics firm INRIX.
Other routes expected to see heavy traffic are the I-10 Freeway in LA and Riverside counties and the I-15 Freeway in San Diego County, with congestion most likely the Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons before Thanksgiving, according to AAA.
Meanwhile, AAA forecasted Tuesday, Nov. 26 — between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. — as the overall busiest time to drive. The automobile club had predicted that heavy traffic would lead to a 38% increase in travel time during that period.
Average gas prices are at their lowest since 2020 for Southern California, according to AAA.
Busiest times to fly at LAX
With more than 2.2 million passengers flying through this week, LAX is sure to see plenty of traffic but airport officials say the busiest travel day is already behind us. Sunday, Nov. 24, was projected by LAX officials to be the busiest day at the airport, with an estimated 222,000 fliers, while numbers will dip down through the following days.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Dec. 1, is expected to be the second-busiest day at LAX, airport officials say, with an estimated 206,000 passengers. TSA officials advise getting to the airport two hours before departure time for domestic flights and arriving three hours ahead for international flights.
The most popular destinations to fly to for Southern Californians this holiday are Las Vegas, the Central Coast, the Grand Canyon and San Diego, with Hawaii as the top destination for fliers.
LAX has a full list of tips for Thanksgiving travelers which can be found here.
