The day before Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year. Even though millions of people are hopping on planes or getting in their cars to go somewhere, experts are predicting the biggest drop in turkey day travel since the 2008 recession.
Back in October, AAA crunched the numbers and said they expected Thanksgiving travel to drop by 10 percent from last year. Since then, we've seen a spike in COVID cases and new restrictions across the country, so the agency is now predicting a much larger drop.
Ninety-five percent of people who do go somewhere this week will drive. As for the packed airports across the country over the weekend, despite the CDC warnings against travel, AAA PR Director Elizabeth Carey says many of those travelers booked at the last minute, taking advantage of low fares.
"Normally, holiday travel is booked in advance, this year, people took kind of a wait and see approach," she told 2 On Your Side. "People wanted to see how they felt about things and how comfortable they were, and airfare is the lowest it's been in three years. So, people started to take advantage of those lower flight prices. So you'll still see people traveling right up to Thanksgiving, and of course, then they'll be heading back home so it's going to be the busiest we've seen the airports since March. "
Carey says there were other factors involved, too.
"We knew that a lot of people would still travel for the Thanksgiving holiday because they're so desperate to see their families that they haven't seen in a long time, they're fed up with a lot of the restrictions, and there is a pent up demand for travel," she said. "However, we do remind people to follow those guidelines from the CDC. Make sure you wear your mask at all times, try to be socially distant. Now's not the time to be rushing off to an airplane in a jam-packed group of people."
If you plan to leave New York State, consult the Covid-19 testing policy for travel here.