The Most Difficult Travel Week for Military Families
For most Americans, Thanksgiving week is one of the busiest travel periods of the year. For military families, it can also be one of the most stressful. The holiday collides with leave schedules, high travel costs, unit training calendars, and long-standing financial challenges for junior enlisted families. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a moment of comfort and tradition, but the demands of military life often turn the long weekend into a logistical and financial test.
High Costs and Limited Options
Thanksgiving is consistently one of the most expensive travel weeks in the United States. For military families, that demand runs into limited options. Service members often rely on commercial flights rather than government or discounted travel. Space available travel exists year-round, but Air Mobility Command’s official Space-A travel page reminds travelers that there is no guarantee they will be selected for a seat and that they must be prepared to pay for commercial travel if flight schedules change or become unavailable for Space-A passengers.
For junior enlisted families already dealing with the rising cost of living, airfare during this period can make Thanksgiving travel impossible. The Department of Defense has acknowledged ongoing financial strain among lower-ranking troops. Recent reporting shows some families face food insecurity or rely on food banks to meet basic needs, which makes expensive holiday travel unrealistic.
Travel Risks and Holiday Safety
Holiday travel is not only expensive but also unusually dangerous. The U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center identifies the period from just before Thanksgiving through the New Year as the second-deadliest stretch for off-duty soldier fatalities, with an annual average of 11 deaths during this window.
Nationwide accident data reflects the same pattern. The National Safety Council and Red Cross recently projected nearly 440 traffic deaths and more than 56,000 injuries over a single Thanksgiving weekend.
These dangers land on top of the emotional and logistical strain already faced by service members and their families. When leave is short, travel windows are rigid, and distances are long, the likelihood of accidents increases simply because families spend more hours on congested roads and less time resting.
Leave Is Never Guaranteed
Even when families can afford travel, leave during Thanksgiving week is never guaranteed. Commanders retain complete discretion over approving or denying leave based on mission requirements. The Army’s leave regulation allows commanders to restrict or disapprove leave when training, readiness, or staffing requires it.
Families often do not know until weeks before the holiday whether leave will be possible. For those trying to visit family across the country, that uncertainty makes financial planning difficult. Airline tickets only increase in price as Thanksgiving approaches, so waiting for command approval can mean paying significantly more or giving up the trip.
PCS Schedules Collide With Holidays
Permanent change of station moves add their own pressures to military families during the late fall. PCS orders require families to relocate often and on short timelines, adding financial and logistical strain during a period when civilian families are preparing for the holidays.
When report dates overlap with Thanksgiving week, families often face a difficult choice: move immediately and miss the holiday, or request a modified report date and risk delaying the family’s transition to housing, schools, or new medical providers. Military families have reported online that PCS-related travel during Thanksgiving week can produce higher out-of-pocket costs because lodging fills quickly and hotels increase rates. None of these costs pauses for the holiday.
The Emotional Side of the Holiday
Beyond the travel and financial issues, Thanksgiving also places emotional demands on military families. Holidays are some of the most difficult periods for those with deployed spouses. Annual holiday messages often acknowledge that many service members spend Thanksgiving away from their families and that these separations weigh heavily on them.
Non-deployed families feel those gaps as well. Thanksgiving is a holiday built on tradition, and when one member of the family cannot be present, the absence is felt sharply. Thanksgiving preparation is a moment that can heighten feelings of isolation, especially for recently relocated families who have not built new support networks.
The contrast between public images of large holiday gatherings and the realities of military separation can be emotionally difficult. Some bases hold community Thanksgiving meals to help fill the gap, but these events vary widely by installation and resources.
The Burden Falls Unevenly
Thanksgiving is particularly hard for lower-ranking families, who face the combined pressure of limited leave options, high travel costs, and the financial demands of military life. Senior personnel are more likely to have accumulated leave, more predictable schedules, and greater financial flexibility. The uneven impact of holiday constraints reflects long-standing differences within the force.
A Holiday Unlike Any Other
For military families, Thanksgiving is not just a holiday. It is a crossroads of competing demands: mission, family expectations, travel costs, and the emotional weight of separation. Unlike civilian families, who can often plan months ahead, military families must adapt to schedules they do not control and pressures that intensify during the holiday season.
Thanksgiving is supposed to bring Americans together. For many military families, it does, but only at the end of a process marked by uncertainty, cost, and the constant reminder that their holiday plans depend on factors far outside their control.
