As an exhausting election cycle draws to a close, the holiday travel season kicks into gear — which may feel more hectic than usual for a few reasons.

Thanks to lower airfares, U.S. airlines will carry 27.3 million passengers over the 12-day Thanksgiving holiday travel period (Nov 18-Nov 29), reports airline trade organization Airlines for America (A4A). That's up 2.5 percent, the equivalent of 55,000 more passengers a day, from last year's travel period.

A4A said airlines have increased capacity to accommodate the extra traffic, but expect the skies and airports to be crowded. November 27 is predicted to be the peak travel day, with airports in big cities from New York to Los Angeles — and just about everywhere in between — expected to be the busiest.

Since Election Day, interest in relocating to Canada has become a running joke — or deadly serious since the country's immigration website crashed amid a surge of traffic from U.S. internet addresses last week. For that reason, airports north of the U.S. border may see brisker than usual business this holiday.

Cheapflights.com reports that between 6 p.m. ET on Election Day through 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning, searches for one-way flights from the U.S. to Canada were up more than 1,000 percent over the average volume during the comparable time frame over the last four weeks.

There were 500 percent postmidnight search spikes for one-way flights to Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa and Germany on election night as well.

If you've decided to fly at the last minute, a cheap fare is still possible.

"Most searches will be done on the 11th and 12th, but most people will commit on the 13th, after thoroughly looking and comparing the previous prices offered," said CheapOair's travel expert Tom Spagnola.

Many airlines look at their inventory capacity with a 10-to-14-day window to determine when to lower fares for last minute shoppers, he said, "making the 13th the 'tipping point' for those committing to a Thanksgiving trip."

Separately, travel analysts from Expedia report that New York City and Las Vegas top the list of holiday destinations this year.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade draws 3.5 million to New York City each year, but you can avoid the crowds and still see the giant character balloons by watching the balloon inflation the day before the parade (November 23) in the streets around the American Museum of Natural History.

"The inflation takes place from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.," says NYC & Company, "though earlier in the afternoon is the best time to see the inflation process as by about 9 p.m., most of the balloons should be fully inflated."