AAA is projecting that 79.9 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home over the Thanksgiving holidays. AAA This represents an increase of 1.7 million compared to 2023 and 2 million more than in the pre-pandemic year, 2019. 

The holiday travel period is also expected to set a new air travel record, as 5.84 million people will fly domestically during the period, an increase of 2% above last year and a nearly 11% over 2019.

Nearly 2.3 million people are expected to travel by other modes of transportation, including buses, cruises, and trains. This category is seeing an increase of almost 9% compared to last year and an 18% jump over 2019. The demand for cruises has been red-hot post-pandemic, as domestic and international cruise bookings are up 20% compared to last Thanksgiving.