Roody

AAA is predicting that 42 million Americns will travel somewhere for the Thanksgiving holiday, with 40 million going by car. This will be the largest share of travel by car for any holiday, ever.

Personally, I'm not very thankful to hear this news.

How about you? Will you be joining the Thanksgiving traffic jam, or do you have carfree holiday plans?

https://www.npr.org/2010/11/19/131448...holiday-travel

zeppinger

Probably has something to do with the new body scan and pat down (sexual assault) policies at our airports.

Roody

You want to touch me where?! I think price of air fares is up a lot also.

wahoonc

Only because I have to drive home from a job site on Wednesday night

Thanksgiving Day will be spent at two houses about 20 miles apart. Then I don't get back in the truck until Sunday afternoon to head back out to a different job site in a different state.

So yes and no.

And as pointed out the current security regulations are playing a part in it, as well as reduced availability of airline seats.

Aaron

gerv 

Staycation here. I don't think I could handle a bunch of traffic and have no relatives nearby anyway, so... time to hunt down some books or maybe work on an old French bike I got earlier this year... Lengthy naps are also a possibility.

zeppinger

I think I will steal some of my fathers Viagra and opt for the full pat down when I fly next. I wonder if they will suspect its a WMD?

Dahon.Steve

I heard about this "Intimate" pat down or powerful ex-ray machine that's now required for air travel. Quite frankly, this ex-ray device scares the daylights out of me and I expect cancer rates to start climbing with all this required radiation.

bragi

I'll be using a bicycle this Thanksgiving; hooray! Not too thrilled about Christmas, though. I'll have to fly then, never a joyous prospect, but now, with increased (and dubiously effective) security procedures, it's more of a "cattle car" experience than ever.

Personally, I think the next time terrorists want to take down an airliner, they'll just use a rocket. Using x-rays or feeling up passengers doesn't really make us any safer....

ro-monster

In a way, I am thankful to hear it, because it means that a large number of people are protesting the insane abuse of power that is taking place at airports, using the most effective means at their disposal -- refusing to play that game, and depriving the airlines of ticket sales. If I traveled for the holidays I'd be doing the same thing. But since I don't have any relatives, I stay home and cook. And all my shopping gets done by bike or commuter train.

doc0c

+1000 to all the airport scanner comments. What a joke and abuse of power. I saw a video on youtube of a little boy being "patted down" (aka groped) by a security guard. I thought children under 12 were supposed to be exempt.
Call Janet Napolitano and tell her this is not OK. Or better yet, don't fly anymore...that'll get them thinking.

Titmawz

Car free for all upcoming holidaze

ndbiker

It was suggested that women practice Meg Ryan's Kat's Deli scene from "When Harry met Sally". When they get their "pat down" let em have it. My guess is that while TSA searches are a contributing factor, the price of airline tickets and a slowed economy are the primary reasons for the increase in driving. Driving is still cheaper for a family to visit relatives than a plane, train and perhaps even bus especially for a family.

Robert Foster

I try not to fly if I can help it but to tell the truth I don't care if they scan me before getting on a plane if it decreases the chance of someone wearing an exploding diaper. I may have to drive Thursday but it will be the first day this week that I will have to fire up the Compact.

To me one of the safest airlines to fly on is El Al. Just take a look at Shin Bet Security methods and our scanning and pat down might seem like child’s play.

One cute cartoon I saw on this matter was they wanted an airline to develop a closed booth that would explode any hidden devices a person might have on their person. The problem might be the announcement over the intercom, “Will all passengers please move out of line A and into line B,C or D? Custodial services will you please clean up the booth in line A?”

dcrowell

I'm not going anywhere for the holidays. My wife is D.C. I won't fly there and I really don't want to drive.

I'll spend the holidays alone this year. I will however ride my bike on Thanksgiving day, since I won't be at work.

zeppinger

These guys got it right if you ask me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vm7OF-Ruxs

Artkansas 

I think cattle are treated better than travelers these days.

carfreephilly

If it's not raining, I will be biking about 4 miles across the city to a friend's house. If it's raining, she will probably come pick us up in her car, since we're taking several dishes of food with us.

AdamDZ

Don't forget to wear a kilt...

zeppinger

I would expect to see a lot more articles like this in the near future. Or at least a lot more cover ups.

Incoherentfool

Doubt it. The scanners are pretty low power. They don't even penetrate the skin. You probably get a bigger dose of radiation during the flight.

AdamDZ

Roody

To answer my own question, I'm going to be working at the hospital on Thanksgiving. I will be walking to work since the buses don't run on the holiday. It realy isn't far enough to bother riding my bike.

However, I won't be completely carfree. My son always brings me a thanksgiving plate, and he'll drive it in the car.

GriddleCakes

Seeing as how the in-laws live 50 miles away, I'll be driving. Someday they'll run passenger rail service from Anchorage to Wasilla on the existing railway, but probably not by Thursday.

More like a WVD.

Word! The last time I flew, the Security checkpoints were so tedious that I was praying that someone would cull me from the line, hustle me into a small box, and punch a pneumatically driven bolt through my skull.

BarracksSi

I didn't drive.

I flew, though. The fears of crushing crowds and glow-in-the-dark body scan aftereffects and getting groped were completely unfounded. The hysteria just showed how stupid Americans really are.

As far as record amount of driving? That's 'cuz flying costs a lot.

Sorry for bumping up a lame thread.

gerv 

Certainly does. Flight costs have shot up quite a bit in the last few years. Extra baggage fees and other hidden costs also make air travel more expensive.

Still, we've been predicting increases in the prices of gasoline... making car travel more expensive.. and it has managed to go up, but in a stealthy kind of way, so no one talks about the price hikes...