The Best and Worst Times to Drive for Thanksgiving

The holiday season is here and many of us are going to be hitting the road to visit family or friends this holiday season and if your Thanksgiving plans involve hitting the road, buckle up because AAA says this year is gonna be record-breaking for traveling.

Yup. A new study is showing that 82 million Americans plan on going somewhere this holiday season making it a record-breaking traveling season.

Out of those millions, 73.3 million are choosing to drive. Six million are taking to the skies. And 2.5 million are hopping on buses and trains.

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Worst and Best Time To Leave This Thanksgiving

According to AAA, the absolute worst times to leave are next Tuesday from noon to 9 p.m., and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Yes, that’s a huge chunk of the day. Basically, if you’re not leaving at dawn, pack your patience because traffic will be a nightmare.

Heading home? Prepare your playlists. Sunday, November 30th from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. is just not a great day to travel. Monday, December 1st from noon to 8 p.m. is even worse thanks to commuters who are just trying to live their lives.

Now for the good news: the golden, magical, BEST day to drive? Thanksgiving Day itself. Light traffic, mainly because everyone is still enjoying time with their families so no one is on the road.

If you’re renting a ride, Hertz says next Wednesday will be their Super Bowl of pick-ups. But at least rental prices are down 15% from last year. Gas prices, though? Expect about the same as last Thanksgiving.

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