2024 Thanksgiving may break records; around 4.5M Floridians expected to travel

Writer: Nicholas Karsen
Published: Updated:
Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving travel is a stressful endeavor, as AAA predicts nearly 4.5 million Floridians will travel 50 miles or more for the holiday.

According to AAA, the prediction stems from economic growth, declining inflation and strong income gains, which are expected to boost consumer spending by 4.6% compared to 2023.

Nationally, nearly 79.9 million people are expected to travel, a 2% increase. This is 1.7 million more people than the previous record set in 2023 and 2 million more than in 2019.

An estimated 71.7 million people are expected to travel via automobiles, with around 5.8 million to travel via airplane.

Historically, the Tuesday and Wednesday before the holiday see the most travel, with airports expected to be inundated with large groups.

The Sunday and Monday after Thanksgiving are expected to be the second busiest travel days during the holiday week.

Southwest Florida International Airport announced its annual RSWRemote services in early November, adding additional parking options for Thanksgiving travelers.

The reserved parking option on the airport’s north side will accept cars to enter for parking from Nov. 23 through Thanksgiving Day.

Shuttles will operate from the remote lot to the terminal from 3 a.m. until 7 p.m., from Nov. 23 – 27 and will take parkers from the terminal to the remote lot from 8 a.m. until the last daily flight arrives from Nov. 28 – Dec. 4.

Shuttles run from 3:00 a.m. to noon from the lot to the terminal on Thanksgiving Day.

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