How to prepare for a busy holiday travel season

AccuWeather

Millions of Americans will be flying for Thanksgiving this year, hitting pre-pandemic levels. If you'll be one of them, here's how you can make the process easier.

Transcript

00:00People are bracing for what's expected to be one of the busiest Thanksgiving travel

00:03periods on record and that starts right here at Philadelphia International Airport.

00:08Many airports across the country are expecting record-breaking numbers as families head home

00:13for turkey dinner.

00:15Nearly 80 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving

00:21according to AAA.

00:23Of that, nearly 5.84 million will be flying, levels that haven't been seen since before

00:28the pandemic.

00:29In Philadelphia, the airport is projecting more than a million people will fly into or

00:34out of PHL.

00:35That will be 12% more than last year and very close to what we had in 2019, just 2% less

00:43than 2019.

00:44But with those crowds come challenges.

00:46The TSA is urging travelers to arrive at least two hours before domestic flights, three hours

00:52for international ones.

00:54It's also a good rule of thumb to sign up for alerts through whatever airline you might

00:57be flying to quickly hear about any flight delays or cancellations.

01:02Just because the weather is great where you are, doesn't mean that'll be the case to where

01:05you might be traveling to.

01:07Any major hubs, Dallas, Fort Worth, Chicago, Denver, if they're having bad weather, flights

01:14and crews might not be able to get to Philadelphia or to another airport.

01:18So when you're getting ready to fly, it's not only looking at the weather in Philadelphia,

01:22but it's looking at weather across the country and paying attention to alerts for other parts

01:27of the country too.

01:28Philadelphia's busiest travel days are expected to be December 1st, 2nd and November 30th

01:34as people head home after the holiday.

01:36Ultimately, plan to pack your patience.

01:39They're also predicting record crowds to be on the roads for Thanksgiving as well.

01:44So if you're driving to the airport, give yourself even more time to get here.

01:49For AccuWeather, I'm Allie Reed.

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