Atlanta named top winter holiday destination

Holiday travelers navigate Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson December 20, 2019 Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport : Soldiers and the traveling public make their way to the security checkpoints past the atrium Christmas Tree on Friday, Dec. 20, 2019 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The Transportation Security Administration will screen some 42 million passengers at airport security checkpoints nationwide over the holiday travel season that began Dec. 19 and runs through Jan. 5. The forecast for crowds going through airports during that period is up 3.9 percent from a year ago and averages 2.6 million passengers a day. Travelers should allow extra time to get through security screening and ensure that they don’t bring prohibited liquids, weapons or other restricted items through checkpoints. The busiest days are expected to be Friday Dec. 20, Saturday Dec. 21, Friday Dec. 27 and Thursday Dec. 26. The least busy days are expected to be Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and Christmas Day. The busiest day on record nationally for the Transportation Security Administration was Dec. 1 this year, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, when TSA screened more than 2.8 million travelers. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM (JOHN SPINK / AJC)

By Abby Jessen

It’s November 1st, which officially begins the holiday season. To help people with winter travel plans, WalletHub compared the cheapest U.S. destinations that are the easiest to reach, and the great news is that Atlanta was on top of one of its lists!

They measured metrics ranging from cost and convenience of travel to flight data to safety indicators to weather predictions to number of attractions and variety of activities.

Top Cold Weather Holiday Destinations

  1. Atlanta, GA
  2. New York, NY
  3. Washington, DC
  4. Chicago, IL
  5. Cincinnati, OH

Top Warm Weather Holiday Destinations

  1. Las Vegas, NV
  2. San Diego, CA
  3. Dallas, TX
  4. Austin, TX
  5. Phoenix, AZ

I personally find it funny that Atlanta is on the “cold weather” list when it can sometimes be in the 70s on Christmas Day, but hey, we’ll take the top spot!

The full study can be found here.