BALTIMORE — Holiday travel has started this week and whether traveling by car or air, numbers are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels.
Christmas is only a few days out-- and the peak travel days start this week running from December 23rd to January 2nd. Since Christmas and New Year's Eve both fall on weekends this year it's bringing more people out.
AAA is saying nearly 102 million Americans will drive to their holiday destination, But they are expecting a 14 % increase in air travel compared to last year with about 7.2 million Americans expected to fly. They say this it's close to matching 2019 pre-pandemic flight numbers.
AAA is also saying nearly 113 million people will travel 50 miles are more, but with winter weather storms creeping in, it might put quite a delay on those travel plans. The National Weather Service is predicting heavy snow and ice from the Midwest over to the East Coast Thursday through Saturday. That combined with the low temperatures we are seeing could change some of those expected travel numbers.
WMAR spoke with one family who says they are leaving the cold and heading to a tropical destination for Christmas.
“We’re getting ready to go to Florida to see the rest of our family and the airport is crazy,” said Maxine Haggie.
She said the weather moving in did not change their travel plans.
TSA advises travelers to arrive at the airport 2 hours prior for a domestic flight and 3 hours prior for an international flight.
