Houston , TX. – With the holiday travel rush once again in full swing, you should be planning to arrive at the airport early, plan and prepare.
If you’re flying this weekend, both Friday the 16 and Saturday the 17 are expected to be the single busiest travel days with 200,000 people projected to fly each day.
“I’m here early so I’m pretty chill about it. I’m not really anxious about anything,” said traveler Mathias Miu.
Transportation Security Administration officials said the best advice is to arrive at Houston’s airports two hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights.
With 3.4 million passengers expected to depart, connect and arrive at Houston’s airports between now and January 2, 2023, you’ll have to be creative when it comes to wrapping gifts to ensure they’re TSA-friendly and will clear security.
“The main thing to remember is TSA is going to want to look inside your gift, so what I suggest is doing two-part gift wraps,” said travel gift wrap expert Alton Delaney.
The airports and the roads will both be packed with holiday travelers this year.
AAA Texas is forecasting around 8.3 million people will drive to their destinations. Despite the roller coaster in gas prices we’ve experienced this year, that’s an additional 2 million drivers compared to 2021.
“Check your battery, engine as well as your tires,” said Joshua Zuber with AAA Texas.
With the Thursday and Friday before Christmas and New Year’s expected to be the busiest time on the roads, the best time to travel by on December 23 is before 2 p.m. or after 8 p.m. On Christmas Eve, before 11 a.m. or after 7 p.m.
“Plan a few alternate routes, if possible, in case traffic is really bad on the route you’ve already pre-selected,” Zuber said.
For a look at the full Texas travel forecast from AAA, click here.