Fun Facts about Thanksgiving Travel

Traveling this Thanksgiving? Here are some fun facts that might surprise you when it comes to traveling for the upcoming holiday.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving isn’t the busiest travel day of the year.

In an article in USA Today, David Smallen, director of public affairs of the Department of Transportation (DOT) states that the busiest air travel day is, “a different summer day each year, based on the number of domestic flights.” For instance in 2014 the busiest air travel day was August 8 while in 2006-2013 it was sometime in July or August.
However, if you do choose to travel on the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving you will undoubtedly join a large crowd of fellow travelers.

Flight delays don’t occur most often around the Thanksgiving holiday

This might be hard to grasp when you’re sitting in the airport with a dead phone and no update on when your plane will arrive, but it’s true. The Department of Transportation did a study of “On time performance for flights since 2001 during a 12-day window with Thanksgiving in the middle” and do you know what they found? They found that on average, flight delays were about the same over this two week period as they are the rest of the year.
If the meteorologists see a large storm in the near future it may be a different story but for the most part you shouldn’t be worried that you’ll miss your family’s Thanksgiving dinner.

Hotel prices may not be as unreasonable as you thought

This may surprise you: nearly 50% of holiday travelers stay with their family. What does that mean for you? Cheaper hotel rooms.
Staying with the family has its own advantages, like easy access to leftovers when the urge hits you at 2 am, but staying at a hotel can be great as well. Even if you are going across town to visit family, staying in a hotel can feel like you’re in a different city completely.
Don’t let holiday travel keep you apart from your family this Thanksgiving! Now you can travel without the fear of delayed flights or expensive hotel rooms.

You may be wasting your time if you’re shopping on Black Friday

It’s cold, it’s early, and you’ve been waiting in line all morning for the chance to get one of the three 60 inch TVs that are on sale, but here’s the thing—prices for the majority of the items in the store aren’t at their lowest price. According the Wall Street Journal  the price of an item fluctuates throughout the year. So that TV you’ve been waiting to purchase as a Christmas present actually cost less in October. While there may be a select few items that you can purchase for a screaming deal, chances are you could have bought it for the same price months ago. And speaking of holiday shopping, why not give your loved ones a holiday stocking stuffer that costs you nothing with Greater Nevada Credit Union’s Gift of Membership.

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