Stressful airport crowds and bumper-to-bumper highway traffic are increasingly becoming a Thanksgiving tradition, on par with roasted turkey and football games.

But 2024 will truly be a banner year for mass travel: Nearly 80 million people plan to travel for Thanksgiving, according to AAA forecasts released Monday. The number of Turkey day travelers is expected to break all previous records. In fact, AAA says that two million more people will travel 50 miles or more from home in 2024 than in 2019, before the pandemic.

To get even more accurate predictions, the organization has included the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Monday after the holiday in its predictions for the first time. “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 Services, said in a statement.

Read on for tips on how to best avoid the crowds and Thanksgiving traffic when traveling during the holiday week, whether you’re planning a trip by car, train, or plane.

Road tripping

According to AAA, the majority of travelers – a whopping 71.7 million people – will be taking a road trip this Thanksgiving. That is 1.3 million more people traveling by car than in 2023.

This means that traffic will also be at a record high during the holiday period. “With record numbers of travelers expected to be on the road, drivers should monitor traffic apps and local news alerts to avoid major delays,” Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at Inrix who works with AAA on traffic forecasting, said in a statement. “This is especially important for motorists in metropolitan areas such as 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.”

A good rule of thumb is to avoid driving in the middle of the day and early evening. The worst departure times are expected to be the Monday (November 25) and Wednesday (November 27) before Thanksgiving from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, and Tuesday (November 26) from 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Inrix data shows that the best times to hit the road are early morning on the Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving. There should be less traffic anytime before 10am. When you get home, try to get out before 1pm the following Saturday and Sunday to avoid the worst of the highway congestion. Minimal traffic is expected on Thanksgiving Day itself, making it an ideal road trip day if you have flexible plans.