By Josh Ortega
SanTan Staff Writer
People going to Chandler for Thanksgiving could do a lot worse – and a lot better – for a place to celebrate the holiday.
Chandler ranked 29th among 100 cities across the country for best places to spend Thanksgiving in the financial website WalletHub’s annual survey. Chandler slipped three places from last year’s placement at 26 in that survey.
With Atlanta, Georgia, topping the list most Arizona cities and towns improved in their rating from last year’s Wallethub survey with Gilbert leading the list of seven Arizona municipalities included in the roundup.
Gilbert climbed from 11th last year to number 5.
Phoenix climbing from 76th in 2021 to 60th, Tucson from 72nd to 49th, and Glendale from 65th to 52nd.
Several cities across the Grand Canyon State dropped. Scottsdale fell from third place in 2021 to twelfth while Mesa fell from 43rd to 50th.
But all of the Arizona municipalities did a lot better than Hialeah, Florida, which ranked dead-last among the 100 municipalities, right behind Anchorage, Alaska.
The study used 20 metrics to rank the cities across a cornucopia of factors including celebrations & traditions, affordability, safety & accessibility, volunteer opportunities and number of volunteers for charities, and weather.
The study predicts that 31% of people will travel this Thanksgiving. Of those traveling, 29% will fly while 47% will drive to their destination.
Fang Meng, professor at the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management at the University of South Carolina said to avoid peak travel days and use your own car are somewhat obvious ways to save money when flying the coop for Turkey Day.
When people do arrive at their destination, the survey said the hosts may be crying foul on the price of that fowl.
According to CNBC, expect a whole frozen turkey weighing between 8 to 16 pounds to set you back roughly $1.99 per pound, a 73% increase over last year’s average price of $1.15.
WalletHub found the average 16-pound whole frozen turkey will cost a little more than $25 this year. Overall, it also found hosts will spend an average of $392 for food, drinks, and home décor for the day.
WalletHub found hosts spend more than nine hours preparing their feast, and Meng suggested they should not be be afraid to try another economical option.
“Do not feel shy to ask your guests to bring something to share (appetizer, side dish, dessert, drinks, etc.) for the party – it is more fun and cost-effective,” Meng said.
Across a five-day period in 2021 that included Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the study found that 180 million people went shopping and that the average American spent $301 over that time period.
Andrew Burnstine, associate professor at the College of Business and Management at Lynn University said you could participate in “No Spend November,” a pledge for participants to set rules and boundaries on their spending.
Burnstine said shopping at local farmer’s markets for your Thanksgiving meal and replacing Black Friday and Cyber Monday with “Upcycle” – repurposing items for holiday decorating and gift-giving – can save money and the environment.
Fred Hurvitz, a professor of practice for Retail Studies at Smeal College of Business at Pennsylvania State University, said setting a gift-giving budget will save a lot headache once the bruises from Black Friday shopping have subsided.
“We have to remember how important the holiday season is to the profitability of many retailers,” Hurvitz said. “The early commercialization of the holiday season has been occurring for several years now.”
Whether you spend the weekend with family or hunting for deals at retail stores, working hard or relaxing at home, Burnstine said the holiday weekend really sets itself apart from the rest of year in term of what we value. Although Black Friday may encroach on that.
“In the end, while we can speculate as to the reasons why it is so, the fact is that Thanksgiving really sets itself apart from the rest of the year in the way that it draws the focus to a different kind of value,” he said.
Information: wallethub.com/edu/best-places-to-go-for-thanksgiving/67603
