Nearly 80 million people will hit the roads and airways this Thanksgiving, with the number of travelers surpassing pre-pandemic levels, AAA predicts.

During the holiday period, 79.9 million people will make journeys of 50 miles or more – an increase of 1.7 million on last year and 2 million more than in 2019.

For the first time, AAA’s annual forecast includes the Tuesday before and Monday after Thanksgiving to better reflect people’s travel behavior.

“Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel, and this year we expect to set new records across the board, from driving to flying and cruising,” Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel, said in a statement.

The majority of trips, 71.7 million, will be by car, which means that there will be 1.3 million more travelers on the road compared to last year. Gas prices during the holidays last year are lower than the national average of $3.26 per gallon.

Perhaps not surprisingly, AAA cites data from transportation analysts at INRIX showing that Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons will be the busiest times on the roads next week — but Thanksgiving Day itself is “generally clear.”

Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at INRIX, said drivers should pay close attention to traffic apps and local news alerts.

“This is especially important for motorists in metropolitan areas like Boston, New York, LA, Seattle and Washington, DC, where traffic is expected to be more than double what it normally is on a normal day,” he said .

Car rental company Hertz said Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Oahu, Orlando and Phoenix were among the cities with the highest demand.

A record 5.84 million people plan to fly, up 9% from 2019, while international flight bookings are up 23%, AAA said.

And other forms of transport – including bus, cruise and train – are also on the rise, up 9% from last year and 18% from 2019.

The most popular domestic location for travelers is Orlando, with three other Florida cities in the top 10, as Americans seek warmer climates.

Much of the continental United States will see rain and snow in the week before Thanksgiving, with more than 25 million people covered by weather warnings and watches.