AAA Says More Than One-Million Marylanders Will Be Traveling During Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend

The auto club says that’s just under one-percent more than last year.Baltimore, Md (KM) AAA Mid-Atlantic says more than one-million Marylanders are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home for the upcoming Thanksgiving Day Holiday. Ragina Ali, Public and Government Affairs Manger for the auto club, says that’s not much of an increase compared to last year. “We have seen that travel is certainly rebounding in a big way throughout this year,” she says. “And even though the numbers are flat, basically it’s a slight increase. one percent. It’s up a little bit.”AAA says the number of Marylanders projected to travel this year is 10-percent below the pre-pandemic level in 2019, which was the highest travel on record for the Thanksgiving Holiday in Maryland.Ali says inflation hasn’t discouraged a lot of Marylanders from traveling during this holiday. “Despite increased costs—let’s been honest, we’re seeing inflation and increased costs across the board, whether it’s for travel or simply groceries—despite those increases, a lot of people are still making plans and finding ways to spend time with the families and friends this Thanksgiving Holiday,” she says.The auto club says more than 90-percent of residents are expected to travel by car. Ali says they should have a mechanic check out their vehicles to make sure they’re road ready. This is to avoid breakdowns along the way. “Nationally, AAA expects to rescue more than 400,000 stranded motorists over this Thanksgiving Holiday period, with more than 9,000 of them here in Maryland,” she says.Air travel is expected to be up by 6-percent this year. If you plan to fly to your destination, Ali says “arrive early,   give yourself plenty of time; ample flexibility. And if you can avoid checking a bag, if your bag’s small enough that you can carry it on your flight with you, that’s always certainly a good thing to do too. It will give you more flexibility if your flight is delayed or for whatever reason you may need to reschedule.”All other modes of travel, such as trains, buses and cruise ships, are also seeing a big increase this holiday period. “That is the area that is sort of rebounding in the biggest way for Thanksgiving travel not only nationally, but here in the state of Maryland as well,” says Ali. “We’re seeing about a 20-percent increase year over year as far as the number of people who will be taking buses or trains or cruises.”By Kevin McManus