Thanksgiving travel made easier with proper planning

Perhaps it’s the thought of a hot, home-prepared Thanksgiving meal that drives holiday traffic.

Perhaps it’s the allure of Black Friday deals starting at 3 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

Regardless of the reason, Thanksgiving is often one of the most popular travel weekends of the year.

With gas prices at historical lows, more Wichitans are expected to hit the road for the holidays this year.

However you plan on traveling, officials say proper preparation is key to enjoying a stress-free holiday.

Airline tickets still available

Are airline tickets available? Yes

Are they good deals? Not quite.

People who prefer not to book their travel arrangements until a week before they travel are finding available airline tickets a bit expensive, said Bobbi Hansen, CEO of Sunflower Travel.

“It’s not always the very lowest price, but ... it’s possible to get it done,” she said. “They’re usually isolated seats. If five people came in a family, it might be difficult to get them all on the same flight.”

Hansen said if people have flexible travel dates, it makes finding flights more possible.

“It just depends on their budget,” she said.

Jim Hanni, a spokesman for AAA Kansas, said his agency found that the average price of airline tickets fell about 10 percent this year, primarily because of low fuel costs.

That is, if you booked at a reasonable time.

“Jet fuel may be slightly different, but it stands to reason jet fuel would be down substantially, and that would drive airfares down,” Hanni said. “No surprise there. It probably should be more, but at least there has been some benefit to airfares as a result of gas prices going down.”

Gas prices

On Friday, the average price of gas in Kansas was $1.95 per gallon, which ranked the state 12th-lowest in the country, according to GasBuddy, a website that tracks gas prices.

Other Midwestern states such as Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas and Colorado also ranked in the top 15 states for the cheapest gas.

Holiday gas prices are the lowest they’ve been for at least five years. Retail gas prices in late November have hovered in the upper $2 and lower $3 range since 2010, according to the site.

Hanni, the AAA spokesman, said if prices fall a few more cents, they will be the lowest since 2003.

Hanni said AAA estimates there will be 46.9 million Americans traveling for the holidays nationwide.

Specific regional figures will not be released until Wednesday, but Hanni said it is expected to be the busiest Thanksgiving travel weekend in the past eight years or so.

“Our Wichita people are saying they’re noticing people are planning to travel further, going to see people that are further away because of gas prices,” Hanni said.

He said his advice for travelers is to inspect vehicles before taking long trips, making sure fluid levels are appropriate and that tire pressure is adequate.

“It’s a good time of year to think about packing an emergency kit in your car, having some water, nonperishable ... food items, in case you break down,” he said. “Make sure you at least have a charged cellphone, flashlight and maybe some extra blankets and gloves.”

Drivers should plan their routes ahead of time to avoid any potential road construction delays and allow for plenty of time getting to destinations.

Winter storm coming

The National Weather Service is encouraging travelers across Kansas to pay attention to the weather forecast around Thanksgiving.

A big storm system is forecast to come into the area, but details about when it will land remains sketchy this early out.

“The details are highly uncertain as far out as we are as the track of the storm is likely to change between now and next weekend,” said James Caruso, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wichita. “It’s going to be a big travel weekend, so stay tuned for later forecasts. Our confidence will increase as we get closer to Thanksgiving, and we’ll be able to fine-tune those details.”

As of Friday, mild weather was expected in the region early in the week, with highs in the 50s and 60s through Thursday. Rain and thunderstorms are possible starting around midweek, and temperatures are expected to drop Thanksgiving evening.

That precipitation could turn into a wintry mix Thanksgiving evening into early Black Friday morning.

Different long-term projection models show the storm system moving out at different points over the weekend, Caruso said.

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Thanksgiving travel made easier with proper planning."