What is US like travel during Thanksgiving ?

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whoistheg

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What is Air Travel in the US like during Thanksgiving ?

Hi All,

After booking my International US trip a few weeks ago i just found out that we will be returning back to LA
around Thanksgiving. I know a lot of people in the US take the 4 days off.

TG Thursday 22nd Nov
Black Friday 23rd Nov

We are booked to Fly home from LAX on the 23rd Nov.

We will be flying back from East Coast to LAX on either the 22nd or 23rd

What are peoples opinions on the best time to fly back. Also im guessing we book
our flights back ASAP

Also any tips advice i guess ? Are places open like restaurants etc on the 22nd ??
 
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In a word: insane (or perhaps nuts).

I flew LAX-LAS on Thanksgiving last year, and it was absolutely insane. The airport was gearing up for its busiest day ever (just as national 'opt out' day was gaining momentum). I was fortunate enough to be bumped to F for the flight, as it was oversold.

More people travel for Thanksgiving in the USA than any other holiday!

Avoid the period if you can, from say Wednesday thru Monday and try either side of that if you can. I'd say fly direct east coast to LAX and connect on the 23rd. It'll be far cheaper in flights and hotels!
 
As mentioned, it is very hectic. I timed my trip to arrive a week after TG on the 29th.
 
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I flew on QF108 JFK-LAX on Thanksgiving last year and thought it was rather quiet - zero queue at security. I was under the impression that the day before Thanksgiving is the particularly crazy one (similar to xmas eve vs xmas day).
 
Day before/after Thanksgiving would be the peak IMHO. On the day the crowds should be dropping off as the day goes on.
 
I travel every year on the actual day as it's quiet, on the days either side it's chaos.
 
If possible I would travel Thursday evening/night. Restaurants will be open but many will serve a festive menu.
 
I've got to say - I don't think it's that bad.......

I mean - Drewbles is right. And the day before is actually the most hectic - but as long as you have time up your sleeve - you're not being too clever with ultra tight connections etc - then it's fine IMHO.

Just that the airports will be full of college kids and military personnel flying home for the holiday.
 
Travelled JFK-MIA-YYZ on Thanksgiving Day 2010 - JFK was very, very quiet, and MIA was certainly quieter than usual.

As a side note I travelled JFK-MIA in F on an AA 777 and was really looking forward to the lunch.
Thought they might do something 'special'

It was 'special' alright .... a Cheeseburger! :shock::mrgreen:

THe J leg from MIA-YYZ in a 738 had much better catering!
 
We were travelling in the US last year in November/December (first visit there) and part of our holiday encompassed Thanksgiving week. I thought it would pretty much be treated as a long weekend, i.e. people taking off the Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun, but didn't realise that the entire WEEK is actually a school vacation period, so a lot of people take off the whole week leading up to and across Thanksgiving, so you will probably find flights, accommodation etc might be busy in a lot of places for that week, not just Thanksgiving itself. We were staying at a ranch in Arizona, and the place filled up to capacity the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and most of the family groups didn't go home until the following Saturday or Sunday.
 
I am bracing myself for some hecticness in November too. I arrive by sea in Miami on Wed 21 Nov (the day before Thanksgiving) and am booked to fly that day on DL FLL-CVG-LAX. (As a QFF, I would have preferred AA, but they were approximately 3 times the price!) I figured that this would be one of the worst days of the year to fly, but didn't really have much option due to the timing of my arrival into Miami.

Like the OP, I'm also returning to Australia (SYD) the day after Thanksgiving, which could also be hectic.

It could be an interesting couple of flights!
 
airbound said:
I am bracing myself for some hecticness in November too. I arrive by sea in Miami on Wed 21 Nov (the day before Thanksgiving) and am booked to fly that day on DL FLL-CVG-LAX. (As a QFF, I would have preferred AA, but they were approximately 3 times the price!) I figured that this would be one of the worst days of the year to fly, but didn't really have much option due to the timing of my arrival into Miami.

Like the OP, I'm also returning to Australia (SYD) the day after Thanksgiving, which could also be hectic.

It could be an interesting couple of flights!
Click to expand...

Oh, and I should have mentioned, to add to the experience, my QF12 home has changed from an A380 to a B747 on Fri 23 Nov. Goodbye 80A :(.
 
airbound said:
I am bracing myself for some hecticness in November too. I arrive by sea in Miami on Wed 21 Nov (the day before Thanksgiving) and am booked to fly that day on DL FLL-CVG-LAX. (As a QFF, I would have preferred AA, but they were approximately 3 times the price!) I figured that this would be one of the worst days of the year to fly, but didn't really have much option due to the timing of my arrival into Miami.

Like the OP, I'm also returning to Australia (SYD) the day after Thanksgiving, which could also be hectic.

It could be an interesting couple of flights!
Click to expand...

Be thankful it's Sea you arrive by and not air. The last time I flew into MIA from LHR I had a 3 hour connection. I almost missed it. I made it to the check in desk with 2 minutes before I was offloaded. It was *that* bad.
 
Has anyone done the Macy's Balloon parade in NYC?
I will be in east coast USA for TG and was thinking of what to do...

Also Halloween in Vegas...do adults get into it?
I cant imagine kids knocking on my hotel room door.
 
I'm another one flying on Thanksgiving this year - flying in on BA175 from LHR to JFK, and the girlfriend is on the QF93/107 MEL - LAX - JFK. From what I've heard, the day itself is fairly relaxed.
 
As I want to be in NY on thanksgiving this year - trying to figure out where to fly into NY on the Wed 21st... I've gone through so many options it is not funny. It was LAX, then SFO, then LAS, then YUL/YOW/YYZ (have you seen the taxes travelling between CAN and US??) but the wife has come up with Albuquerque (after driving from Vegas past grand canyon and on route 66). The routing on that Wednesday will be ABQ-SLC-ATL-LGA on DL. 45SC for $230 odd... All for a parade the next morning.

Am I mad?
 
Well you give thanks that you don't get caught up with that lot.

As it is an ecumenical holiday they are all flying

If you need to be there Fly when they are all hoeing into that poor turkey


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app
 
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