Happy Thanksgiving season! We’re grateful to have you along with us as we gear up for turkey, family, a ton of travel, and hopefully a good nap or two. This month we have some exciting useful travel tips for some of the busiest travel days of the year.
Everyone knows Thanksgiving brings a travel surge, and this year is no exception—in fact, it’s expected to break records. U.S. airlines are projected to carry more than 31 million passengers November 21 - December 1.
If you’re flying (or tracking someone who is), expect busier airports and an increased chance of delays or disruptions. There’s no avoiding it, but these tips can help:
Morning flights are your friend: They’re less likely to be affected by earlier delays, and you’ll have more options to rebook if something goes wrong.
Pack snacks: Airport restaurants will be more crowded and pricey. Bringing your own food can save both time and money.
Check your flight status before leaving home: A delay you discover while still in your kitchen is way better than once you’re at the gate. FlightAware’s app is a great way to get notified immediately if there are any changes to your flight.
It may be too late for you this year, but here’s some info to remember for next year:
Heading out: Thanksgiving morning is often the lightest—and cheapest—time to fly. The Wednesday before is one of the busiest days of the year.
Heading back: The Friday after Thanksgiving is usually the lightest for travel. The Sunday after is one of the busiest travel days of the year.
For those of you who love maps or statistics (or both!), we have a few tools you should check out…
Our Misery Map shows you where flights are piling up. You can see live data, or even go back in time and see how things have changed.
We have live stats on airlines and airport flight cancellations
We also have live stats on airports delays
Hopefully your airport doesn’t appear on any of these pages—but if it does, at least you’ll be prepared.
If you’re flying to or from KPHL (Philadelphia International Airport) this holiday then you’ll definitely be picked up by our featured host this month. In fact, PhillyRox has a chance of picking up your flight if you go anywhere in or over Pennsylvania.
Charles, an amateur radio operator since 1984, has one of the most impressive setups we’ve ever seen!
Ok ok, that isn’t his. That’s a nearby ridge that includes a large high power broadcast (FM & TV) tower farm that he has to compete with. But my statement is still true… Charles’s setup is truly impressive!
Despite the terrain around him and the RF interference from the nearby antenna farm, he is currently ranked #24 on our worldwide ADS-B site stats!
Would you like to be featured as our host of the month?
If you have an ADS-B receiver setup that you think could be featured as our host of the month, you can share your photos and a short story with us by uploading them to our ADS-B Photo Upload Form for a chance to be featured next!
Click the link below to visit the ADS-B Flight Tracking discussion forum on our website, or follow us on social media to stay up to date with the latest news!
We also welcome any topics you’re interested in reading about in our newsletter – let us know by emailing adsbsocial@flightaware.com.