CINCINNATI — The two days before Thanksgiving are some of the busiest travel days of the year.
During the next few days, 82 million people are expected to be on the roadways and in the air, according to AAA. Of that, AAA estimates 3 million of those people will be Ohioans driving through the state and beyond this holiday weekend.
What you need to know if you're traveling this holiday weekend:
But they won’t be the only ones on the road. Travelers like Bill Wasmune will also be on the road, who are just passing through Ohio. Wasmune left his home in Wisconsin on Monday afternoon and is heading to Charleston, West Virginia, to visit his daughter.
He told me that he and his wife left early due to the weather on the road this year. He said that traffic got particularly bad around the Cincinnati area.
I also spoke with travelers Sandra Wilkins from Asheville, North Carolina and Tim Byerly from San Antonio, Texas. Both of their final destinations are in Ohio, just further north of the Cincinnati area.
They told me they make this drive every year, and added that this year, traffic has been noticeably different.
“I left about 4:30 this morning, and traffic has been really heavy,” Wilkins said.
She also told us roads are much busier this year.
Byerly said he left Texas on Monday and drove over 800 miles in one day.
“Today I hit road construction outside of Louisville, and had to take a detour,” Byerly said. “Probably lost at least an hour.”
According to AAA and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), Tuesday and Wednesday are the busiest travel days. Crews with ODOT crunched the numbers on Thanksgiving travel in years past to come up with a chart showing the best and worst times to travel.
“Leaving in the morning is a good time, if you don’t mind late-night driving or even overnight driving, that can be a good thing as well,” said Morgan Dean, an AAA Club Alliance Spokesperson.
Driving is the more popular mode of transportation in the Tri-State, but nearly 300,000 people will be flying from Ohio to their Thanksgiving destination, according to AAA.
I spoke with Dave Hershberger, president and owner of Prestige Travel, a Cincinnati travel agency.
He told me his top tips for those flying this holiday weekend.
“Arrive early, make sure you’ve got your airlines app downloaded on your phone in case there’s any cancellations, changes or delays … and pack your patience, it’s gonna be crowded,” Hershberger said.
Hershberger said he recommends getting to the airport more than two hours before your flight during the holidays, because it's better to be 45 minutes early rather than two minutes late.
If you do have a cancellation, Hershberger said to "start with kindness."
“Lot of times (airline service workers have) dealt with 100 people before you, and they’re just trying to do their job, and get you accommodated and move on to the next thing," Hershberger said.
If your flight is canceled, you do have right to be refunded or compensated in some situations. Hershberger said every airline, hotel and rental car company has their own policies, but there are also some federal policies through the FAA.
One policy states that if your flight is canceled, airlines must offer you a refund promptly, though you can accept a flight credit if you prefer.
And for those still on the road, no matter how near or far you’re driving, the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) wants to remind everyone to be safe. That means designating a sober driver or using a rideshare, making sure everyone in the vehicle is wearing a seat belt, following the posted speed limits and putting distractions away and focusing on driving.
