TULSA, Okla. — The United States could see record Thanksgiving travel numbers this year.
Unlike turkeys, AAA estimated that 5.8 million people will take to the skies this travel season. Tulsa International Airport expects 125,000 passengers to pass through its halls.
Despite that anticipated turnout, plane ticket prices remain on the minds of flyers whom 2 News Oklahoma’s Douglas Braff listened to.
The Transportation Security Administration expects Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday (Nov. 26, 27, and Dec. 1) to be the busiest air travel days this Thanksgiving travel season.
Wednesday morning, foot traffic at TIA was steady, with moderate lines for TSA and baggage check. As of 6:30am Wednesday, there have been no delayed or canceled flights from TIA.
According to AAA booking data, air travelers are paying 3% more for domestic Thanksgiving flights this year, while the number of flight bookings is similar to last year.
TIA reported this month that its airline seat capacity is up 5.7% compared to November 2023.
2 News ran into a man named Larry Young, who was traveling with his wife Wednesday morning to Charleston, SC, through Charlotte.
He told us they’ve felt rising ticket prices “a little” and that it’s “a little tricky to get everything lined up — you know — and to get it going, but you gotta do early, early planning on making your reservations, or you’re gonna be out of luck.”
Even though they bought their tickets about a month ago, Young said the roundtrip fare cost $900 for economy seats, with no additional charges for things like checked luggage.
While he used his travel miles when buying his ticket, he said what they bought was among the cheaper options.
“So, not terrible — but not cheap,” said Young.
Some people will go out of their way to see family, like Barbara Bates, who flew Wednesday morning to Cedar Rapids, IA. With stops in Atlanta and Minneapolis, she said the trip should take eight hours.
“If you need to get there, you need to get there,” she remarked.
She told us the miles she used for purchasing her tickets probably saved her a couple thousand dollars.
While she noticed flight prices rising, Bates told 2 News that the price was not an obstacle since she had miles.
“You know, it fluctuates,” she said. “I’m sure that’s what the fuel costs.”
Mike Neal flies weekly for a living, and he told us there's no price on seeing family.
This year, instead of hosting Thanksgiving in Oklahoma as he normally does, he and his wife flew to Fort Wayne, IN, on Wednesday morning.
“Airline tickets, it seems as though they’ve been increasing some throughout the past year,” he told us. “It seems like every time we buy a plane ticket, it costs more than you think it’s gonna cost.”
“But you spend what you need to spend to go be with family,” Neal pointed out.
He added that he feels “increasing prices don’t appear to have too much impact on travel this year.”
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