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What are the busiest days on the highway?

This blog post will discuss what those days are and why they're so busy.
  • The day before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Day. The Thanksgiving holiday is one of the busiest travel days of the year, and for a good reason. ...
  • Christmas Eve and New Year's day. ...
  • Weekends. ...
  • Mondays. ...
  • The third and fourth of July.




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According to AAA, travelers driving during these times will expect the most traffic:
  • Wednesday between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m.
  • Thursday between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
  • Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.


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TSA is projecting to screen 2.6 million passengers on Tuesday, Nov. 21; 2.7 million passengers on Wednesday, Nov. 22 and 2.9 million passengers on Sunday, Nov. 26, which will likely be the busiest travel day.

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Saturday and Friday are still the two deadliest days to drive, and rush hour from 3:00–6:00 pm is still the deadliest time to drive.

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While mornings and afternoons are safer, there are some exceptions. Rush hour traffic, which typically runs from 8 AM to 10 AM in the morning, and then again from 4 PM to 7 PM in the evening, plays a part in safety too. With the influx of cars at these peak times, the roads become more dangerous.

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Thanksgiving and Christmas tend to be the busiest travel days of the year, but other holidays like Memorial Day, July Fourth, and Labor Day also see some of the highest volumes of air passengers.

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WHEN WE TRAVEL
  • The most daily trips are made on Friday (16 percent)
  • The fewest daily trips are made on Sunday (13 percent)
  • More daily trips are taken between noon and 1 p.m. (7.4 percent) than between 8 a.m. - 9 a.m. (5.5 percent)


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Generally, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best weekdays to fly. Thursday is a bit more expensive but still reasonable. Saturday is usually the cheapest weekend day to fly. That does not mean you cannot find great flight prices on the other days of the week.

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Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport remains the busiest airport in the world with 5.2 million seats in September 2023. The composition of the Global Top 10 Busiest Airports is also the same as last month but there are a few changes to the rankings.

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Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days to fly domestically. The cheapest days to depart if you're flying within the U.S. are midweek — generally Tuesday or Wednesday.

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Traffic tends to be worse on Fridays for several reasons: Commuters leaving early for the weekend: Many people choose to leave work early on Fridays to start their weekend activities. This creates more traffic on the roads during peak hours.

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Is there a cheapest month to fly? If you're looking for a bargain month to travel, February is your best bet. Flights in January closely follow February for being most affordable. At the other end of the spectrum, December and July are the first and second most expensive months to travel, on average.

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