Travel experts give advice on how to avoid the holiday travel rush

The day before Thanksgiving is considered one of the busiest travel days of the year.

This one could be record-breaking as 1.7 million Pennsylvanians are expected to travel on Wednesday.

AAA representatives said the roads will be most congested from 2-6 p.m. They encouraged travelers to leave early.

“Before 11 a.m. if you can or wait until after 6 p.m. to head out on the roads, and the same thing goes for if you’re returning home from traveling for the weekend,” said Tiffany Stanley, a public community relations manager for AAA.

Stanely said Sunday will also be busy, emphasizing it’s best to get on the road as early as possible.

“Just tack on another half hour or hour to your travel plans. That way you’re not rushing and speeding, you know, driving aggressively. We don’t want to see that at all,” added Stanley.

There is some good news as AAA reported the average gas price in the area is about $3.60 a gallon. This is almost 50 cents less than last year.

When it comes to air travel, Stanely and the executive director of the Erie International Airport said in addition to giving yourself time to get to the airport and go through security, travelers should also download the app for the airline they are flying with.

“It keeps you up to date and lets you know if your bags have been put on the airplane. It also lets you know typically where your connecting flight is and the terminal building. It gives you directions and how long it takes you to get there. And if you do have a flight interruption, it usually rebooks you so you don’t have to wait in line,” said Derek Martin, executive director of the Erie International Airport.

Martin said for air travel, the season started on Friday. He noted the two 100-passenger flights to Charlotte are sold out on Wednesday.