Travelling over Thanksgiving weekend

[MyGirlsRock]

We are planning a trip to DL/San Diego after Thanksgiving - 7 nights in Anaheim followed by 4 in San Diego. We are coming from Canada. Our original plan was to fly on Sunday, November 25 via Denver to John Wayne. However, I am worried that this might not be a good plan - a quick google search tells me this is one of the busiest travel days in the US.

So I'm considering Plan B and C. Plan B is to travel to Anaheim a day earlier on Saturday. We would extend our trip by this extra night and spend Sunday relaxing before going to the park on Monday as originally planned. Our hotel is available this night. Plan C is to travel Monday. We would have Tues-Sun to take in DL and California Adventure. I had really wanted to be able to go to the parks on Monday as I had read this is a low crowd day.

I would appreciate any insight or suggestions on what day would be preferable to travel! As a Canadian, I am not really sure what to expect regarding air travel on this weekend

 

[ddwlms]

I've flown on that Sunday before and it has never been a problem. The thing that I found is that if I waited to book tickets, the price sky rocketed way more than it normally would; but if we booked in advance, we didn't pay any more than any other Sunday. (any other Sunday that had no specials).

However, I like your idea of coming in on Sat and relaxing. Flights seem to be cheaper on Saturdays in general, so you might save enough to help pay for some of the hotel cost.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

I've flown many a'times on peak holiday travel days because I live far away from every blood relative I have and those heavy traffic days are not something that make much of a difference to me. Saturday is not going to be all that much lighter than Sunday and there's no reason to miss Monday at DL to avoid flying over the weekend.

If it helps, the US airport system doesn't collapse because of holiday travel. It just takes longer to go through all the systems: security, finding parking (though in Canada this shouldn't be so bad as in the states) and to deal with late departures at the gate. Usually IF there are delays, flights will get delayed about 15-30 minutes, sometimes longer (though over an hour would be more unusual) and they only cancel if there is a weather problem etc.

I'd plan extra time between your arrival and connecting flight in Denver in case of delays if you leave Canada late.

BTW: We might run into you at the parks as we're going that week, too! We arrive on Thanksgiving Day and leave the following Friday.

 

[MyGirlsRock]

Thank you both for your replies! I feel more at ease about sticking to the original plan.