QuickTake:

Roughly one in four Oregonians plans to travel more than 50 miles from home during the holiday, the AAA says. The good news is that gas prices in Oregon are down a bit.

Planning to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday?

You’re not alone: AAA, the not-for-profit travel organization, is predicting record-breaking travel during the holiday, with 81.8 million Americans — including 1.17 million Oregonians — on the road or in the skies. It’s about a 2% increase over 2024.

“It’s not so much a pent-up demand for travel,” said Marie Dodds, director of government and public affairs for AAA Oregon/Idaho, “but it’s the realization that travel is not necessarily a given” — especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Dodds said the 34,000 or so Oregonians traveling by air should find relatively normal conditions at airports now that the government shutdown — which triggered flight restrictions across the country — ended a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving week remains the busiest travel time of the year, Dodds said, partly because it’s a more compressed time period than the two weeks with Christmas and New Year’s Day.

“And the other thing with Thanksgiving is that it’s not a religious holiday, and so we have just about everybody observing it in some fashion or other,” she said.

All about gas prices

There’s good news for the 1 million or so Oregonians who will drive this holiday to their destinations: Gas prices in Oregon have been relatively stable over the last month and are as low as they’ve been since March.

But Oregon typically has some of the highest gas prices in the nation: As of Nov. 18, the state’s average price — $3.792 a gallon — was the fifth-highest among the states. (California was No. 1, at $4.65.) Gasoline prices on the West Coast tend to be higher than national averages, thanks to fairly tight gas supplies, and its location away from regions of the country where drilling and refining occur.

And prices in Oregon may be about to rise, AAA said in a news release:The Olympic Pipeline, the Pacific Northwest’s primary fuel artery, was shut down last week due to a leak near Everett, Washington. The pipeline resumed limited operations Sunday, according to its owner, BP.

The average price in Eugene-Springfield, $3.60, is about 25 cents higher than it was last Thanksgiving. 

The most congested times for driving are expected Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons and again on Sunday and Monday afternoons after the holiday. 

Travel tips for a busy time

Regardless of your mode of travel this holiday, remember that Oregon’s weather in late November can be unpredictable.

“You can be 48 degrees and cloudy one day, and then the next day it’s 25 and snowing,” Dodds said.

That means people traveling on the roads should be prepared for the weather, she said: Make sure your vehicle is equipped with an emergency kit. Make sure your vehicle has traction — snow tires or chains. And pack provisions in case of a lengthy delay: “Water, snacks, warm clothing, blankets, so that if we get stranded somewhere for several hours, everyone is comfortable,” she said.

Winter weather — anywhere in the nation — also can disrupt flight schedules.

So even with airports getting back to normal, Dodds said, “you always want to have a Plan B, and even a Plan C and D if you can, because winter weather can be the wild card this time of year. … So you do want to be flexible; be prepared for the unexpected.”

Mike McInally is a Pacific Northwest journalist with four decades of experience in Oregon and Montana, including stints as editor of the Corvallis Gazette-Times and the Albany Democrat-Herald.