Stop us if you have heard this before: Thanksgiving travel will be at extremely high numbers, both on the ground and in the air.
The Thanksgiving holiday period is the busiest travel holiday on the calendar, and AAA says almost 880,000 people will travel at least 50 miles to their holiday destination just in Kansas. Over 90 percent, or almost 800,000 travelers, will go by ground — up about 1.3 percent from last year.
Nationwide, the projection calls for almost 82 million overall travelers, up 2 percent from last year, with the number of people driving to their destinations at 73.3 million, up 1.3 million from last year.
With all the travel during the next week, Kansas AAA Manger for Public and Government Affairs Shawn Steward urges drivers to be patient.
If you’re driving, don’t do so distracted by your phone or impaired by alcohol or drugs.
Steward says air travel is returning to normal after numerous delays and cancellations due to the federal government shutdown.
In fact, airports could be busy enough for the Federal Aviation Administration to open up selected military airspace if needed.
Steward says there is a limited amount of time to get vehicles ready for the travel period and for the rest of the winter. AAA responded to around 2,900 emergency service calls in Kansas during last year’s Thanksgiving travel period, with most calls involving a general vehicle breakdown, dead batteries or tire problems. Weather does not appear to be an issue during much of the week ahead, but Steward encourages people to either have or download a weather app and to have an emergency kit, just in case.
When it comes to travel costs, gas is around $2.71 a gallon on average, up two cents a gallon from last year but still ninth-lowest in the country. Emporia gas has been significantly lower than the state average recently, with weekend gas prices between $2.29 and $2.49 a gallon this weekend. Domestic rental car prices are down 15 percent from last year, while domestic hotel prices are down 3 percent.
