Consider these journeys: Dallas to Santa Fe, N.M.; Salt Lake City to Las Vegas; and Daytona Beach, Fla., to Washington, D.C. – in a car. These are the kinds of road trips some Americans are gearing up for as Thanksgiving approaches.
Even with gasoline prices almost a third higher than a year ago, 30.6 million people, or 3 percent more than in 2003, are expected to hit the road for a turkey dinner before the week is up.
Another 6.6 million are likely to travel by plane, train or bus, adding up to what will be the busiest Thanksgiving for the transportation sector since 2000, according to a telephone survey conducted for AAA by the Travel Industry Association of America.
Thanksgiving is traditionally the peak business period for the airline industry, but passenger traffic fell sharply after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, accounting for the overall decline in holiday travel in 2001 and 2002. Auto traffic fell slightly in 2002 but, along with air traffic, has risen steadily since then.
Guillermo Font will drive his Lincoln LS 1,600 miles from Debary, Fla., near Daytona Beach, to the nation’s capital and back, to spend the holiday with his daughter.
“I like to drive,” said Font, a 71-year-old architect, who likes to “fool around” with his GPS system while listening to Latin ballads and classical music on the road. He figures on spending $300 round trip for gasoline (premium), food and an overnight stay in Lumberton, N.C.
Paula Silsby of Portland, Maine, said as long as there isn’t a snowstorm she looks forward to the annual three-hour pilgrimage north to her parents’ home in Ellsworth. The 53-year-old Justice Department lawyer said she finds comfort in the ritual.
“There’s usually very little traffic,” said Silsby. “I take my mug of tea and a bottle of water. It’s a very Zen thing going home for Thanksgiving.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said airports, runways and skies will be most crowded today and Wednesday, with more than 51,000 flights each day.
Spokesman Greg Martin said the nation’s aviation system, which has seen a 52 percent spike in delays this year because of bad weather and rising demand, should operate more efficiently than it did a year ago. That’s because some of the largest airlines, including AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. have “de-peaked” their schedules, or smoothed out the flow of traffic more evenly throughout the day, particularly in busy cities such as Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta.
That said, American, the nation’s largest carrier, is advising travelers to get to the airport more than 90 minutes before flight time because of the anticipated long waits at security checkpoints and check-in. Travelers with bags to check should give themselves even more of a cushion, especially in major cities such as Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Las Vegas, the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline said.
For those riding the train, Amtrak is warning that ridership the day before Thanksgiving will be 80 percent higher than a typical Wednesday and that passengers should expect trains to be “crowded.”
Marc Lagua, 18, paid less than $200 to fly Southwest from Salt Lake City, where he is a student at the University of Utah, to Tucson, Ariz. and back. Lagua will have a quick visit with his family in Tempe, arriving Thursday and leaving Friday, but said he plans to do more than just eat turkey: “I’m gonna play some golf.”
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