Record day of travel across the U.S. as Thanksgiving weekend wraps

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Millions of Americans traveled to their Thanksgiving dinners, according to AAA. In their pre-Thanksgiving projection, AAA reported that nearly 4.7 million Americans were expected to travel by air between Wednesday, Nov. 22 and Sunday, Nov. 26.

“The travel has been fine. It’s been fine and we’re looking forward to going back, and I don’t think it will be that busy,” said Sammy Wallace, who is traveling back to Florida, accompanied by Rose Wallace.

“The cold air has been the biggest challenge by far,” said Rose.

The Wallaces were among million that traveled this Thanksgiving. According to them, the biggest challenge of the weekend was finding parking at Florida’s Punta Gorda Airport.

“The hardest challenge was having to park in the ‘lower 48′ and shuttling over to the airport,” said Rose.

A challenge for some travelers was weather delaying flights back to the bluegrass.

“There was a bit of snow in Madison this morning and in Chicago where we connected,” said David Priest, who flew back from Wisconsin. “I think that slowed things down where we connected, and I think that slowed things down for us a little bit.”

Every year, AAA releases data about the best and worst days to travel over the Thanksgiving weekend. Sunday is typically one of the busiest days to travel. According to travelers at the Bluegrass Airport, however, it was a relatively easy day of flying.

“No real long lines, the night flights seem to be better for me. It’s not really crazy hectic,” said Selah Bussell, who flew back to South Carolina.

Compared to other airports, some find the Bluegrass Airport to be easier to traverse.

“It’s easy to navigate. There are signs everywhere. It’s not too big of an airport,” said Bussell. “I am actually flying to Atlanta airport now, and that airport is crazy.”

Others expressed gratitude that their holiday weekend travels ended with a smooth landing.

“I’ve done holiday travel over Christmas once from California to Florida that didn’t go so hot, so I’m thankful for our easy trip,” said Julia Priest, who flew back from Wisconsin.

AAA said their data suggests Monday, Nov. 27 will also be a popular day to fly back after Thanksgiving.