In Sonoma County, air travelers beat holiday crowd

Travel volume by the skies, roads, rails and waterways will be the highest in more than a dozen years, with 2.5 million more people on the move than last year, the organization says.|

Thanksgiving travel forecast

54.3 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home over the long holiday weekend. It’s an increase over last year, by all modes of transportation.

Automobiles: 48.5 million, up nearly 5 percent

Airplanes: 4.27 million, up 5.4 percent

Trains, buses & cruise ships: 1.48 million, up 1.4 percent

Source: AAA

Roberta Belson caught a Monday afternoon flight from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles, giving her time to fix a Thanksgiving feast for 14, including her four children and five grandchildren.

“I have to prepare everything,” she said while waiting for her departure from the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport. “Turkey, stuffing, gravy and Jello mold.”

Belson, who plans to buy a 16-pound bird, is a frequent flyer. She makes about 10 round trips a year from the Albion home she shares with her husband, David, a University of Southern California professor, and their other home in Beverlywood, just south of Beverly Hills.

On Monday, Belson was ahead of the mass migration for the holiday weekend that runs from Wednesday through Sunday, with 54.3 million Americans traveling 50 miles or more from home, a 4.8 percent increase over last year, according to the AAA’s forecast.

It’s also the cheapest day of the week to fly for a turkey dinner, unless you like cutting it close to the figurative bone by traveling Thursday. Tuesday and Wednesday are the most popular and most expensive days, with airports correspondingly the most crowded, the AAA said, with average round-trip ticket prices of $509 and $507, respectively.

Tickets average $465 on Monday and waiting to fly on Turkey Day could save you almost a double sawbuck with round-trip fares averaging $446.

Jesse and Jennifer Adkins of San Diego flew up to Santa Rosa to beat the crowd.

“We lucked out. It’s been really great,” he said at the airport.

Their six-month-old son, David, also did well on the new family’s first trip, three days ahead of a holiday dinner with relatives in Santa Rosa.

“Just a little more luggage,” Jesse Adkins said, referring to a car seat and stroller along with three suitcases.

Travel volume by the skies, roads, rails and waterways will be the highest in more than a dozen years, with 2.5 million more people on the move than last year, the AAA said, attributing the surge to the booming economy.

“Consumers have a lot more to be thankful for this holiday season: higher wages, more disposable income and rising levels of household wealth,” Bill Sutherland, AAA Travel senior vice president, said in a news release.

The big Thanksgiving getaway, he said, is “building on a positive year for the travel industry.”

Most of the holiday travel will be in vehicles, with an estimated 48.5 million folks on the road, nearly 5 percent more than last year, the AAA forecast.

Air travel will register the largest increase, up 5.4 percent with 4.27 million passengers.

Trains, buses and cruise ships will carry 1.48 million passengers, a 1.4 percent annual increase.

GasBuddy, which tracks gasoline prices nationwide, offered a slimmer holiday travel preview based on the current pinch at the pump.

Thanksgiving gas prices will be the highest since 2014, even after a 25-cent drop in the national average since the start of October.

Projecting a national average of $2.57 a gallon on Thanksgiving, GasBuddy said motorists will pay nearly $80 million more than last year over the travel period.

Consequently, the organization predicted a 15-percent decline in road travelers compared to last year, while allowing there may be last-minute decisions to drive in response to falling prices in some states.

Thanksgiving gas prices nationwide averaged $2.53 last year, $2.13 in 2016 and $2.05 the year before. In 2014, the cost was $2.79.

About one-third of the participants in GasBuddy’s holiday travel survey said costly fuel was impacting their travel plans.

In California, GasBuddy reported an average price of $3.63 a gallon Monday, down 20 cents from last month but 41 cents higher than a year ago.

In Santa Rosa, gas averaged $3.62 Monday, down 22 cents over the month and up 44 cents over the year.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 707-521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.

Thanksgiving travel forecast

54.3 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home over the long holiday weekend. It’s an increase over last year, by all modes of transportation.

Automobiles: 48.5 million, up nearly 5 percent

Airplanes: 4.27 million, up 5.4 percent

Trains, buses & cruise ships: 1.48 million, up 1.4 percent

Source: AAA

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.