Q Is it true that the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year?

A Yes—when it comes to air travel, says Gabe Saglie, Travelzoo.com senior editor. “It’s followed very closely by, or in some years narrowly beaten by, the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend,” Saglie says. If you’re looking for a more stress-free day of travel, booking your flight for Thanksgiving Day might be your best bet, when airports and planes tend to be less crowded. As for the second-busiest travel period, that’s usually the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Saglie says that might not be the case this year, though. “The financial reality may require many people to choose one holiday to travel and the other to stay home, as opposed to planning some sort of family travel over both holidays,” he says. “What people do, or don’t do, during the Thanksgiving travel period may very well dictate what we see come Christmas.”

Q What time should I leave the city if I’m driving?

ATraffic.com says the morning rush hour on Wednesday 26 will feel similar to a typical Wednesday morning. The roads will start to get congested around lunch time, when office workers skip out of work a little early and hit the road. Holiday drivers in the Chicago area are likely to cause backups, doubling the time motorists will spend in traffic jams. The site predicts traffic will increase significantly beginning around 11am, with the worst congestion occurring around 5–6pm. Your best bet is to start your journey first thing Wednesday morning, or better yet, the evening of Tuesday 25.

Q I just decided to fly home—can I still get a cheap ticket online in a last-minute sale?

A “This is not the year to wait until the last minute,” says Chicago native Keith Melnick, a VP at the travel-booking site Kayak.com. “[Ticket] prices are 25–30 percent higher this year due to fuel charges and a 10 percent cut in [passenger] capacity—20 million seats in the U.S. and 60 million worldwide [have been eliminated].” While special holiday deals for Thanksgiving are gone at this point, flexible travelers can save money by avoiding rush hour in the sky. “Flying on off-peak days around the holidays can be more than $100 cheaper per ticket,” Melnick says. “You can save a bundle by traveling on Thanksgiving Day and returning on Saturday, Monday or Tuesday.”

Q Can I carry on the dishes I baked in advance for Thanksgiving dinner?

A It depends on the food, says Lara Uselding, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration. Solid foods like turkey and stuffing will sail through security, as will pies with firm consistencies—such as pumpkin. But gravy, syrup, dip, jam, sauce, salad dressing and salsa fall under the liquid category—so unless you’re measuring out three-ounce samples and placing them with your toiletries in that clear, quart-sized bag (unlikely), the security officers are in for a tasty treat. “A gel is anything that if you pour it out on the table it would lose its shape,” explains Uselding, who notes that security has the final say on foods that make the cut. “If you think your food is questionable and it’s important to you, it’s best to put it in your checked bag or mail it.”