AAA Hawaiʻi: Record number of Pacific states residents set to travel this Thanksgiving

AAA Hawaiʻi is projecting 14.2 million residents of Hawaiʻi, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, a 2.8% increase over last year’s record number of travelers.

This year’s Thanksgiving travel volume in the Pacific States is also 4.8% higher than the pre-pandemic Thanksgiving holiday in 2019, when 13.6 million residents took holiday getaways.

Nationwide, AAA is also projecting this Thanksgiving to be the busiest on record, with 79.86 million travelers expected compared to 78.1 million in 2023 and 77.8 million in 2019.

Honolulu will be one of the top ten destinations for US travelers this Thanksgiving, according to AAA booking data.

The Thanksgiving holiday travel period is defined as between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2. For the first time, AAA’s forecast includes the Tuesday before and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day to better capture the flow of holiday travelers.