Illinois Thanksgiving Travelers: The Best/Worst Travel Times

It's just about go-time for Thanksgiving 2024, so start your engines (if you're planning on hitting the road).

"Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go" are song lyrics, but they also describe a way of life that was very consistent until that stupid pandemic rolled in and screwed up our holiday traditions (like traveling) for a couple of long years.

Since coming out of the pandemic, Illinois' travel numbers during the holiday season have been slowly returning to normal, and Thanksgiving 2024 might be the year that we're not only getting back to our previous travel numbers, but actually surpassing them.

With many places featuring gas prices that are lower than what people were spending to head to Grandma's place last year, the roads and airports are going to be hopping for the remainder of this week.

According To Last Week's Press Release By AAA, This Year's Projection Of Nearly 80 Million Thanksgiving Holiday Travelers Is Up Over 1.7 Million More Than Last Year

AAA projects that 79.9 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, which now includes the Tuesday before and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day to better capture the flow of holiday travelers. Thanksgiving Day is this Thursday, November 28th.

AAA's report also points out that gas will be cheaper during this year's Thanksgiving travel period. Last year in 2023, the national average for a gallon of regular gas was $3.26, this year's average is expected to be at $3.21 per gallon, maybe even less.

AAA says that falling oil prices could potentially drop the price for a gallon of gas below the $3 mark even before the Thanksgiving holiday travel period starts.

Here's A Breakdown Of How We'll Be Traveling Over The Thanksgiving Holiday, Along With The Best/Worst Times To Be Out On The Roads

Cars, along with planes, trains, and even cruise ships are going to be loaded up with Thanksgiving travelers. Here are some of the numbers expected, according to AAA:

• 72 million will be driving
• 5.84 million will be flying
• 2.28 million will use other modes of transportation, like trains and cruise ships

Here are AAA's picks for the best times and the worst times to travel by car over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period:

• Tuesday, November 26th-Worst times: 1pm-7pm. Best time: before 10am
• Wednesday, November 27th-Worst times: 1pm-5pm. Best time: before 10am
• Thursday, November 28th (Thanksgiving Day)-Travel should be at a minimum
• Friday, November 29th-Worst times: 7am-10am. Best time: after 1pm
• Saturday, November 30th-Worst times: 4pm-8pm. Best time: before 1pm
• Sunday, December 1st-Worst time: Noon-6pm. Best time: before 1pm
• Monday, December 2nd-Worst time: 9am-6pm. Best time: before 8am or after 7pm