Nov 19, 2023 By Paul Paterra 4 min read

More people are hitting the road this holiday season, undeterred as travel costs continue to rise.

“People are traveling for sure,” said Sandy Davis, owner of Davis Travel Agency in Monongahela. “No matter where you go, hotels are up, car rates are up, everything is up, but people are still traveling. People like to get out. As long as they can still use that credit card, they want to go.”

Jim Garrity, director of public affairs for AAA, said early indications project 55.4 million people planned to travel 50 miles or more during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, an increase of 2.3% from 2022. The number of people traveling by cruise ship, bus or train over Thanksgiving is up nearly 11% from last year.

“We’re looking at the third highest amount of Thanksgiving travelers since we began tracking these numbers at AAA going back to 2000,” Garrity said. “It’s a continuation of the trend that we have been seeing coming out of the pandemic. All of our major roadway holidays this year were heavily traveled. More people are excited to get back to making those memories and they’re more comfortable in the post-pandemic era.”

Those traveling throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio should not have their travel affected by inclement weather, with rain in the forecast Monday night through Tuesday and the first half of Wednesday.

“It doesn’t look like you’re going to have any problems (Nov.) 23, 24 or 25,” said meteorologist Lee Hendrix of the National Weather Service. “We do have some rain showers moving through the area, but at least for Thanksgiving we should have dry, maybe a bit windy, conditions.”

As of Nov. 15, the forecast for the holiday week called for highs in the 40s and overnight lows in the low to mid-30s.

“Overall, not too bad, slightly below normal on temperatures,” Hendricks said.

Davis said people have warm weather destinations planned such as the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.; Mexico and Punta Cana.

“Any place in the Caribbean is good,” she said. “World travel is not as big because of things going on over there. I did have quite a bit of trips to Europe this year, but it’s still not like it was in the past.”

Carl Brandtonies, owner of Worldview Travel in Washington, reiterated Davis’ observations.

“People are calling to see about going away,” he said. “It’s picked up since the pandemic.”

Davis admitted folks hated being stuck inside during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to enjoy getting out and traveling.

“All the restrictions are lifted,” she said. “They know they don’t have to show anything. As long as you have a good passport, you don’t have to have COVID cards or proof of shots.”

The Centers for Disease Control does recommend those who are traveling to be up to date on all vaccines.

According to AAA, gas prices offer a mixed bag for travelers. As of Nov. 15, the average gas price in the commonwealth was $3.607 per gallon, compared to $4.087 per gallon at this time in 2022.

“This was about the time last year when prices settled down from their record highs,” Garrity said. “Barring any unforeseen circumstances we’re looking at gas prices that have come down from their highs in the summer, but they’re still relatively expensive.”

Other travel-related prices, provided by AAA, vary, with the average price for a domestic flight being up 5% from 2022 while an international flight is down 5.7%; domestic hotel prices are down 12% while international hotel stays are up 5%; domestic rental car reservation prices are down 20% and international rental car reservation costs are up 9%.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission also is expecting big numbers over the Thanksgiving holiday. About 3.3 million motorists are expected to be traveling the turnpike during the six-day holiday period from Nov. 21 to 26, with Tuesday and Wednesday looking to be the heaviest travel days.

Operation Safe Holiday, a collaborative effort of a number of state agencies, kicked off Nov. 13 to work toward safe travel throughout the holiday season.

As part of that initiative, law enforcement will conduct sobriety checkpoints, roving patrols and regular safety patrols starting Nov. 22 through the New Year’s holiday.

According to state Department of Transportation data, there were 1,111 alcohol-related crashes, resulting in 41 fatalities and 661 suspected serious injuries during the 2022 holiday travel period. During that same period, there were 387 drug-related crashes, resulting in 44 fatalities and 287 suspected serious injuries.

“We must all do our part to prevent crashes and fatalities,” said Cheryl Moon-Sirianni, PennDOT executive deputy secretary. “No matter how far or near you travel, we want everyone to arrive safely.”