T is not just for turkey this Thanksgiving, it’s also for travel, in a very big way. AAA Mid-Atlantic estimates more than 147,000 Delaware residents will travel 50 miles or more away from home for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a 6.8 percent increase over 2017 and the highest Thanksgiving travel volume since 2005. The Thanksgiving holiday travel period is defined as Wednesday, Nov. 21 to Sunday, Nov. 25.
“This Thanksgiving we will see the most Americans carving time out to visit family and friends since 2005,” said Ken Grant, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “A strong economy and labor market are generating higher wages and more disposable income, enabling more confident consumers to spend on travel this holiday season. The increase in the number of travelers from Delaware taking to the roads, air and other modes of transport, mirrors the national trend.”
Nationally, AAA projects 54.3 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving, a 4.8 percent increase over last year. The 2018 holiday weekend will see the highest Thanksgiving travel volume since 2005 with 2.5 million more people taking to the nation’s roads, skies, rails and waterways compared with last year. AAA and INRIX, a global transportation analytics company, predict travel times in the most congested cities in the U.S. during the holiday week could be as much as four times longer than the optimal trip.
Delaware Thanksgiving Travel 2018
Road trip ready: 91 percent of First State travelers – 133,710 – will hit the road for the holiday, a 6.7 percent increase over last year.
Fueling up: Delaware gas price average is $2.34 (Tuesday), 36 cents lower than last year ($2.70/gallon). Drivers may want to plan on filling their tanks in Delaware, as the state continues to have the lowest prices in the country.
Fuller skies: More than 10,500 travelers will take to the skies for Thanksgiving, an increase of 1 percent compared to 2017.
