Airports will receive millions of passengers in the festive season, how to prepare?

With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years around the corner, millions of people are preparing to travel from airports in the United States, which are expected to experience similar or higher passenger traffic than in years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first travel peak will begin on Friday, November 18, and run through Sunday, November 27. The three busiest days are usually the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving -which in the US is celebrated on the last Thursday of November- and the Sunday after the holiday.

In this period, more than 2.5 million passengers would be seen daily at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, according to the institution’s forecast.

“We expect to be busier this year than this time last year, and probably very close to pre-pandemic levels,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. “We are prepared to handle the projected increase in travel volumes next week.”

Nearly 25 million airline tickets have been sold for the week of Thanksgiving, according to the recent report of travel from the Hopper platform, an online travel agency.

The most popular destinations to travel during the festive season are San Juan, Puerto Rico; Orlando, Florida; Chicago, Ill.; Atlanta Georgia; Denver, Colorado; and Los Angeles, California. International locations include Cancun, Mexico; London, United Kingdom; and Paris, France.

“After almost 3 years of covid, people are more than ready to travel to see friends and family. Although business travel is still down from 2019, recreational travel is filling a good part of the void,” she told the voice of america Genevieve Giuliano, a professor at the University of Southern California and an expert on transportation policy.

Ahead of Christmas, trips to Asia, Europe and big cities are experiencing up to three times more demand than in 2021, a spokesman for the Expedia travel agency told the VOA. Some popular domestic destinations at Christmas are New York and New Orleans. Internationally, Bangkok, Thailand and Lisbon, Portugal are positioned.

“Travel demand has been very strong throughout the year and it’s shaping up to be a very busy holiday season,” the spokesperson added. “Road trips and car rides have become very popular during the pandemic and we continue to see this trend continues this year.

Tips for traveling at Christmas time

Buy your tickets on time. Currently, airfare for Thanksgiving is over $290, according to Hopper’s report. “Airfares were relatively stable throughout October, but have already started to rise as the holidays approach.”

International airfare is over $842 per round-trip ticket, an increase of 30% compared to last year.

Arrive at the airport at least three hours in advance. Travelers flying over the course of the holiday week tend to wait in longer lines and busier airports, according to Hayley Berg, an economist at Hopper. Atlanta, Dallas Fort-Worth and Denver will see more than a million departing passengers over the course of the week, most taking morning flights.

Be flexible with dates. High demand requires passengers to add a day or two to their plans to ensure they get to and from their destination on time, should they encounter delays. “If you’re traveling with small children, have enough food and things to cope with delays of an hour or two,” Giuliano said.

The airports with the longest history of flight delays are Newark, New Jersey; Dallas, Texas; Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Chicago, Ill.; and Baltimore, Maryland; according to Hopper’s report.

Wear a mask when traveling. In the middle of a season in which high cases of COVID-19 and Influenza are registered, Giuliano urged travelers to protect their health in closed spaces such as airports and airplanes.

Follow TSA protocols. Make sure your carry-on bag is free of prohibited items such as weapons, sharp items, aerosol containers, or liquids larger than 100 milliliters (3.4 ounces). Fines for bringing firearms into TSA checkpoints could be up to $14,000.

Have your identification handy. If it is a trip between cities in the US you can take your driver’s license, in the case of international trips do not forget your passport.

Report any suspicious activity. Through the “see something, say something” campaign, the TSA seeks to raise awareness among passengers so that they remain vigilant to possible criminal acts that occur inside the terminals.

TSA had its highest ever passenger screening volume on the Sunday following Thanksgiving 2019, where Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) screened nearly 2.9 million passengers at checkpoints of all country.

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