AAA says 4.5 million travelers will journey 50 miles or more in Southern California
Traffic moves freely Sunday through the construction zone on Highway 101 at Summerland. This portion of the freeway will likely play host to increased traffic later this week leading up to Thanksgiving Day. AAA’s Automobile Club of Southern California predicts that 4.5 million travelers in Southern California will travel 50 miles or more for the holiday.
Southern Californians are expected to board planes and hit the road at record rates this Thanksgiving.
AAA’s regional Automobile Club of Southern California predicts that 4.5 million travelers in Southern California will travel 50 miles or more for the autumn holiday. That figure represents the highest number of Thanksgiving travelers in the region since record keeping began in 2000.
Doug Shupe, the organization’s corporate communications and programs manager, told the News-Press on Monday that 3.9 million Southern Californians will travel by car and 542,000 by plane, and 109,000 will utilize buses or rail, or embark on cruises for the holiday.
Nationwide, travel is forecasted to increase 2.5% compared to last year’s figures and 1.7% compared to pre-COVID Thanksgiving travel in 2019.
“Despite inflation and despite the high gas prices, people are continuing to prioritize valuable and memorable times with their family and their friends, and they’re prioritizing their budgets to be able to gather with their loved ones to spend the holidays,” Mr. Shupe said. “It’s all based on pent-up demand.
“Over the last two years during the pandemic, so many people put plans on hold, they canceled vacations, and so now a lot of people feel more comfortable to travel,” he said. “They missed spending those holidays at the Thanksgiving dinner table with their loved ones, and people are just ready to get out there and do those kinds of things again.”
Mr. Shupe also warned that pent-up demand will continue to contribute to high travel rates for both this year’s Christmas holiday as well as general travel in 2023. He encouraged those planning to travel during those times to book their trips as soon as possible.
AAA is recommending that travelers this week try to leave as early as they can on their travel days to avoid afternoon traffic that will include both regular commuters and holiday travelers, but also cautioned drivers to avoid driving during times they wouldn’t normally be awake to avoid accidents.
The Santa Barbara Airport is also predicting a record breaking year with what could be the highest-volume Thanksgiving holiday the regional transit hub has ever seen. An airport representative agreed with AAA’s advice to arrive at airports — including Santa Barbara — at least two hours before domestic flights and three hours prior to international flights. (Only domestic flights go into or from the Santa Barbara Airport.)
“If you’re traveling anytime in the next couple of days, get (to SBA) two hours early, especially if you’re parking, especially if you’re checking bags, especially if you don’t have TSA Pre-Check,” SBA Marketing Supervisor Angi Daus told the News-Press. “We just really can’t stress that enough.
“If you’re dealing with any of those things, you really need to expect there to be lines and for some time to be taken to get situated before you’re in the secure area of the terminal and before you can board.”
While Ms. Daus did agree that pent-up travel demand as a result of the pandemic was likely leading to some of the increased travel rates, she also pointed to other factors that may be encouraging people to take to the skies from SBA.
“There’s going to be plenty of people that didn’t travel for the holidays last year that are this year,” Ms. Daus said. “But for (the Santa Barbara Airport), we also are attributing peoples’ change in lifestyle, habits and desires (to the higher number of Thanksgiving travelers). People want to use smaller regional airports that are cleaner and easier to use, especially because we have Southwest here now and that’s really helped create better rates and opportunity for connectivity.”
For those traveling out of LAX, the Santa Barbara Airbus told the News-Press that seats are still available for Thanksgiving travelers and that the company was prepared to make additional buses available if necessary.
email: jdaniels@newspress.com
FYI
For more information about traveling from the Santa Barbara Airport, including parking lot locations, visit flysba.santabarbaraca.gov. For information regarding traveling with the Santa Barbara Airbus, visit sbairbus.com.
