Holiday Travel Traditions

Key points

• Uncles are the favorite relatives to see over the holidays.
• Midafternoon is the preferred time for a Thanksgiving meal.
• Christmas Eve is favored over Christmas Day. 

We surveyed 2,000 people nationwide about their favorite holiday traditions and found that for many, skipping the family holiday scene was preferred. Nearly 85% of those surveyed admitted to lying or coming up with an excuse to get out of a family holiday event.

Thanksgiving traditions

Thanksgiving traditions include cooking, gathering around the dinner table and often, traveling to see relatives. But many people we surveyed disagree on when to eat and where. 

What’s the best time to eat Thanksgiving dinner?

The Thanksgiving meal is the centerpiece of Thanksgiving traditions and celebrations, but what’s the best time to serve turkey? 

• 14% of people we surveyed said between 3 and 4 p.m. is the best time to eat Thanksgiving dinner.
• 13% of people like to eat between 2 and 3 p.m. 
• 12% of survey respondents’ favorite time to scarf some stuffing is between 6 and 7 p.m.

Where people are going on Thanksgiving

55.4 million Americans are expected to travel over Thanksgiving, according to AAA. Most people we surveyed say they head to a parent’s house to partake in Thanksgiving traditions. Visiting aunts and uncles took second place, followed by the homes of cousins and then friends. Of the people we surveyed, 4% said they take on the Thanksgiving hosting duties themselves.

The main reasons families argue over the holidays

Getting everybody together for Thanksgiving and winter holidays can lead to some heated arguments. As the saying goes, “Never discuss politics or religion at the dinner table.” So, it’s not surprising that our survey found that family issues, politics, money and religion were among the argument-sparking hot topics around the holidays.  

But there is hope for a happy holiday season — 12% of respondents said they don’t argue with extended family over the holidays. 

Who do people get in arguments with over the holidays?

When there’s an argument, Dad is usually at the center of it. Nearly 40% of survey respondents said they were most likely to get into an argument with their father over the holidays, followed by a grandmother, grandfather and then an aunt. Out of the people we surveyed, 13% said they don’t argue with any family members.

Uncles are America’s favorite relative

While 23% of people said they were most likely to get into an argument with their uncle, 19% of respondents also pointed to uncles as their favorite extended family members, followed by cousins. Only 4% of respondents said nephews are their favorite family member to see over the holidays. 

Christmas traditions

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, for some. Despite the glories of gift giving, our survey found that people actually prefer Christmas Eve over Christmas Day.

What is the best time to open Christmas presents?

Santa is known for delivering presents late on Christmas Eve, but everyone has different Christmas traditions. About 21% of people we surveyed said the best time to open presents is 8 to 10 a.m. on Christmas morning. About 19% said they prefer to open gifts between 10 a.m. and noon. 

Some respondents have a lot of patience, with 12% waiting until 12 to 2 p.m. to open gifts. Nine percent wait until 2 to 4 p.m. on Christmas Day to unwrap gifts. 

Christmas Eve is the favorite time of the holiday season

While most people we surveyed consider Christmas morning to be the best time to open presents, respondents said Christmas Eve brings the most holiday cheer, with 21% of people saying it’s their favorite time of the holiday season. Christmas Day got 20% of the votes, 16% said Thanksgiving is their favorite and 12% love a good deal and voted for Cyber Monday. 

Respondents didn’t seem too eager to get to their resolutions, though, as New Year’s Day is the one of the least popular times of the holiday season, according to our survey results.

America’s holiday plans and travel habits

Not everyone feels the holiday glee amongst family members. Nearly 85% of our respondents admitted to finding some sort of excuse to get out of family time during the holiday season.

Reasons people avoid family over the holidays

The holidays aren’t just about seeing your family, sometimes they’re about avoiding them. Not everyone enjoys sharing a meal or a glass of eggnog with family members. Nearly half of respondents said they lied about having other plans to avoid family time over the holidays, and 45% lied about being sick to get out of holiday events. 

And 40% didn’t necessarily lie, but intentionally booked trips over the holidays to avoid spending the full holiday season with family members. 

Almost 65% of people travel for Thanksgiving

Most people travel over Thanksgiving, with only 6% surveyed saying they haven’t traveled for Thanksgiving in the last five years. More than half (65%) have traveled for Thanksgiving more often than not over the past five years. 

 If you’re traveling over the holidays, travel insurance can help financially protect your investment in your trip if your plans change or are disrupted by holiday travel delays and flight cancellations.

What day do people usually travel for Thanksgiving?

Wednesday is the most popular day to travel for Thanksgiving, by a wide margin. Nearly 25% of people we surveyed say they leave for their Thanksgiving destination on Wednesday. Thursday was the next most popular travel day as 16% of respondents say they leave the day of Thanksgiving. 

Canceled or delayed flights are a major concern among people traveling over the Thanksgiving and winter holidays. In a USA TODAY Blueprint survey about travel problems, 33% of people said having their flight delayed or canceled was their biggest travel fear. And 75% of people said they have had a flight canceled or delayed within the last year.

To protect prepaid, nonrefundable trip expenses, more people are turning to travel insurance. Online searches for travel insurance are up 63% since 2018 and 33% of people we surveyed said they bought travel insurance for a domestic trip within the last year. 

The best time to buy travel insurance is right after you make your first trip deposit. It doesn’t cost more to buy travel insurance early and it provides coverage for the entire period leading up to your trip. 

The best travel insurance plans bundle multiple types of coverage under one policy. Here are some coverages to look for when purchasing travel insurance.

• Trip cancellation insurance: Reimburses you for up to 100% of prepaid, nonrefundable trip expenses if you need to cancel due to a reason covered in your policy, like unexpected illness or severe weather. 
• Travel delay insurance: Reimburses you for expenses you incur if your trip is delayed after a certain amount of time, like five hours. This can cover things like transportation, airport meals and overnight accommodations. 
• Trip interruption insurance: Reimburses you for prepaid, nonrefundable expenses if you need to cut your trip short for a covered reason in your policy, such as a death in the family.
• Baggage delay coverage: Reimburses you for necessities if your bags are delayed after a certain waiting period, like six or 12 hours. 
• Baggage loss and personal effects coverage: Reimburses you for personal belongings if your bag never arrives or if your belongings are stolen. Coverage limits apply and certain belongings, like electronics, may be excluded from coverage.

If you’re traveling abroad, you may want to consider a travel insurance policy with travel medical insurance and emergency medical evacuation coverage. 

A travel insurance plan with the above coverages will cost you around 4% to 6% of your total nonrefundable trip expenses. 

Planning a trip? What travel insurance covers and how much you need.