POLL: What Are Your Travel Plans for Thanksgiving

If you plan on traveling this year for Thanksgiving, there are a few things you need to take into consideration.

AAA officials said they won’t release their official travel projection numbers for Thanksgiving travel until Friday, but according to a release from the travelers organization, gas prices are at their highest level ever for this time of year. According to the release, prices are three cents above prices a month ago and 58-cents above year-ago prices from the same time. Analysts believe gas prices will remain above $3.40 per gallon through Thanksgiving and decline, albeit slightly, through the end of the year, according to the release.

Amtrak is planning to operate all of the passenger cars in their fleet and they’re scheduling extra trains to accommodate the influx in passengers. According to an Amtrak release, the two busiest travel days are the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 23 and the Sunday after, Nov. 27. Amtrak transported a record 704,446 passengers during the Thanksgiving travel week last year, with 134,230 on the Wednesday before the holiday, according to the release.

Travel stands to be tight on airplanes for Thanksgiving travelers as well, according to an Associated Press story in the Chicago Sun-Times. The Air Transport Association are forecasting flights to be full even though they’re expecting 37,000 fewer passengers than last year. The association is expecting more than 23 million passengers to fly during the 12 days surrounding the holiday.

Let us know how you plan on traveling and check back with Patch Friday for an update on the travel projections.