‘A lot of traffic:’ More than 48 million people expected to travel by car over Thanksgiving holiday weekend

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - More people are hitting the highway to get home after spending Thanksgiving with their families.

AAA estimates that 53.4 million will be traveling this holiday weekend - that’s 6.4 million more than 2020 and 2.5 million fewer than 2019.

Of that 53.4 million, 48.3 million are expected to travel by car, 4.2 million people will travel by air, and more than 1 million will travel by either train, bus, or cruises.

Related: 2021 sees a jump in people traveling for Thanksgiving compared to 2020

Neil Fletcher didn’t hesitate to hop in the car when he made his trip from Florida to northern Virginia.

“I would not be flying these days right now. It’s just too many headaches going on, traveling is a struggle as it is,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher says he enjoyed spending time with his extended family after recently getting engaged.

“Oh it was enjoyable, I got to travel to see future in-laws,” he said.

Sharon Burge was wrapping up a twelve-hour drive back to Dalzell, South Carolina from Pennsylvania.

“It was great through West Virginia then we hit Virginia and we’ve just been in a lot of traffic,” Burge said.

Drivers saw a wide range of gas prices up and down the east coast, both Burge and Fletcher say they paid more this Thanksgiving than last year.

According to AAA, the current, average price for gas in N.C. is $3.19 a gallon compared to $3.09 in South Carolina.

“Northern Virginia area was probably about fifty cents more than what I’m paying in Florida,” Fletcher said.

AAA is reporting an average price of $3.25 a gallon in V.A. versus $3.34 in Florida.

“The prices have been way higher but not as bad as it could be,” Burge said.

Despite more people on the roads and higher gas prices - both say it’s worth the trip to spend time with their families.

“It wasn’t going to stop us from seeing family,” Fletcher said.

Burge is encouraging drivers to slow down and be patient when hitting the road on Sunday.

“I don’t know if it’ll really matter when you leave just give yourself extra time, don’t get agitated. Take your time that’s the only way to be,” she said.

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