Record Holiday Travel Week Underway
Nov 25, 2019, 7:39 AM | Updated: 7:41 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – If you’re traveling for Thanksgiving this week, don’t forget to pack your patience.
In addition to the week of storms ahead, there are other issues travelers may experience that could slow things down. Just plan for long lines and crowded parking lots.
TSA advises fliers to arrive at least two hours before scheduled flights. During this time of the year, it’s especially important to remember to not pack items that will slow down screenings — specifically wrapped presents. Officials suggest bringing presents in gift bags instead.
“While wrapped presents aren’t prohibited, we highly encourage you to keep your presents unwrapped in case our TSA officers need to inspect them,” according to TSA’s holiday season tips. “Both our officers and the jolly folks waiting in line behind you will be as merry as Mrs. Claus if you leave the wrapping for later.”
Other suggestions include:
- Knowing which foods can be carried on and which should be checked (good rule of thumb is if it’s liquid, you can’t carry it on)
- Wear slip-on shoes so you can get them off and on easy at TSA checkpoints
- Don’t pack any prohibited items. Go to tsa.gov to check if you can bring an item, or tweet questions to @AskTSA on Twitter
- And, of course, do not try and carry on your electric turkey carver. Stow that away in your check-ed in luggage.
The busiest travel day will be the Sunday after Thanksgiving, with more than 30,000 travelers heading home.
For more information on making travel easier at the airports, go to tsa.gov.
