Where to Stream the Best (and Only) Thanksgiving Classic This Holiday

November 25, 2025, 2:00pm

There are tons of Christmas movies out there to watch throughout the holiday season. On top of the deep pool of classics that includes the likes of Home Alone, Elf, and A Christmas Story, there are also dozens of new Christmas movies releasing every year. But Thanksgiving, for one reason or another, has never received the same kind of love in the movie world. There are a handful of films set around Turkey Day, but there’s really only one that anyone could consider a true classic, so it’s no wonder movie fans flock to rewatch it each and every year.

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Planes, Trains and Automobiles, from the one and only John Hughes, is one of the best holiday movies of all time. It also happens to be one of the only great movies to be set predominantly around Thanksgiving. The film stars Steve Martin and the late, great John Candy as two men whose journeys home for the holiday become intertwined after flight cancellations and crazy weather.

This beloved and timeless comedy is an annual must for families on Thanksgiving, many of which probably own their own copy of the film. If you don’t, however, this Thanksgiving classic is fortunately streaming on several different services this holiday season.

Streaming Planes, Trains and Automobiles This Thanksgiving

The best choice for streaming a movie is always the free one, so the first option for streaming Planes, Trains and Automobiles this Thanksgiving will be none other than Pluto TV. Paramount’s free service not only has the John Hughes classic available to stream for free, but it will also be hosting a marathon of the film on Thanksgiving Day. The Pluto TV Comedy channel will be airing Planes, Trains and Automobiles three consecutive times on Thursday.

In addition to Pluto TV, Paramount+ is also currently housing Planes, Trains and Automobiles. If you’ve got a subscription to that service that doesn’t come with ads, that may be the preferred method, so you can watch the film uninterrupted. You can also find the movie on MGM+, if you’re subscribed to that service.

There is one way to get the best of both worlds — aka streaming Planes, Trains and Automobiles without a subscription and without having to watch commercials. The movie is currently available on a great service called Kanopy, which is a free streaming service with a massive library of awesome movies. The only “catch” with Kanopy (if you can call it that) is that you need an active library card in order to use it. If you have a library card and your local library works with Kanopy (most do), then you’ll be able to rent Planes, Trains and Automobiles for free through that service.

Regardless of where and how you watch, Planes, Trains and Automobiles is as easily accessible as ever this Thanksgiving season.