Holiday travel is up 7% nationwide compared to last year, according to AAA

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Millions of Americans are trying to make it to their loved ones in time for the holidays, but sometimes things get difficult.

AAA says that about 49 million people are traveling by car and 5 million people are traveling by plane to their Thanksgiving destination. However, more than 3,387 flights have been delayed in the United States according to Flight Aware.

At Easterwood Airport, a flight headed from Dallas to College Station was delayed for over 3 hours. Passengers planned to arrive in College Station by 10:27, but that wasn’t the case today.

“I was supposed to be here at 9 am. 2-hour layover turned into about a 5 or 6-hour layover. I was not expecting it but I’m glad to be here,” said College Station resident, Lance Vajdak.

Vajdak said that at the DFW Airport, a line started to form at customer service.

“A lot of people are missing flights from layovers and aren’t getting home for the holidays so I mean it sucks for a lot of people who are missing those flights,” said Vajdak.

In addition to people traveling by plane, millions more are traveling by car to get to their destination for the holiday. AAA Spokesperson, Daniel Armbruster, says 3.7 million Texans will be driving for the Thanksgiving weekend.

“So most of those who will be traveling for Thanksgiving will do so by car,” said Armbruster.

College Station resident, Brian Hales, said he drives home every year for Thanksgiving.

“Every single year the traffic seems to get worse and worse. I mean more drivers are getting on the roads and less people are starting to rely on those flights because they get canceled and they say, ‘You know what, I’m just going to drive,’” said Hales.

According to Armbruster, Holiday travel is up 7% nationwide and 4% in the state of Texas compared to last year.