Increasing number of travelers picking Europe over the U.S. for Thanksgiving trips

DULLES, Va. (7News) — This Thanksgiving an increasing number of holiday travelers are choosing not to go see relatives in the United States. Instead, they’re taking trips to Europe.

United Airlines tells 7News that since 2019, they’ve seen a 30 percent increase in travelers booking holiday season trips to European Christmas markets — and there’s been a ten percent increase since just last year.

Although United says those numbers are for travel during the entire holiday season, the airline says Americans are already making the trips during the Thanksgiving holiday — even though, for the most, part Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Europe.

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Tuesday 7News spoke with a number of travelers at Dulles Airport who are traveling to Europe for Thanksgiving, and are planning to see Christmas markets will they’re there.

The TSA expected Tuesday and Wednesday to be the two busiest air travel days before Thanksgiving, with Sunday expected to be the busiest day after the holiday.

While the traditional busiest days for Thanksgiving travel have not changed, an increase in remote work that began when the COVID pandemic hit has disrupted travel patterns for some people.

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“We are seeing people leaving a little earlier, trying to get ahead of the traffic, and in many cases returning a little later as well,” said Ragina Ali, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “I know many for people, it’s like, ‘okay, I have to work tomorrow. But, I can work from my car while my husband’s driving,’ for instance.”

Although an increasing number of workplaces are calling for employees to return to the office more often, Ali says AAA is still seeing the effects of remote work on Thanksgiving travel this year.

But that could change in the future – members of the incoming Trump administration have said they want federal workers back in the office five days a week, and some private companies like Amazon have issued similar mandates.