SAN ANTONIO — SAN ANTONIO – We are just two weeks away from Thanksgiving. If you plan to fly to see family, expect to pay more.

AAA tells us that flights this holiday season are expected to be 3% more expensive than last year.

“The key point is if you’ve booked them now you definitely want to go ahead and do it, especially if you’re traveling with a group of people it’s harder to find seats where you can sit together more you wait,” said Daniel Armbruster with AAA.

Thanksgiving week is expected to be very busy, with Monday through Wednesday being the most crowded.

“We’re expecting a very busy Thanksgiving, and probably one of the busiest we’ve seen in quite a while. It is therefore important to try to plan as much in advance as possible.

AAA’s Daniel Armbruster encourages travelers to shop around and consider multiple airports.

“Airfares are generally cheaper for midweek dates. So if you’re looking at flying on a Tuesday, Wednesday, sometimes Thursday, it might be cheaper if you can travel on the holiday itself, sometimes you can save that way,” Armbruster said.

New rules from the Department of Transportation state that if an airline cancels a flight or delays it for more than 3 hours, passengers are entitled to an automatic full refund for that flight as soon as possible.

This is 7 days for credit cards and 20 days for other payment methods.

You can only get a refund for a long delay if you don’t take that flight and find another option.

Armbruster says it’s best to book flights 60 to 90 days in advance.

“Sometimes you can find deals in just a few days. Sometimes you can find deals just a few days before your flight,” he said.

He says 2024 was a banner year for travel.

“It’s been a very busy year for travel, and so a lot of people want to travel, get out, see family, see friends and get away. And that’s just a trend that we’re seeing this year,” he added.

AAA says that while the airport will be busy, it expects more people to travel by car.