Holiday Travel Season Underway

by

Thanksgiving is just days away and people are heading to the airports to visit family and friends back home.

John Gervais and his wife are visiting relatives in Vermont for the thanksgiving holiday. "They live in Enosburg, in St. Albans, in Rutland, and outside of White River in New Hampshire," Gervais said. The South Carolina couple flew into Burlington Saturday morning and experienced first hand how hectic traveling this time of year can be. "We came through DC, it was busy and it was busy in Charlotte - Charlotte and DC were bus."

This is the start of the holiday travel season.

"As a matter of fact yesterday, Friday, was very busy, we had a lot of students who were leaving early for the thanksgiving holiday and the weather was not very cooperative," said William Mullin, who staffs the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce airport desk.

Airport officials recommend that travelers use the online check-ins to avoid long lines, call ahead to make sure flights are on time and arrive at the airport 90 minutes before a scheduled flight. "In the morning especially, sometimes the lines get very long and so 90 minutes is standard even for Burlington, Mullin said.

While the Gervais' departures went smoothly, they did run into some problems. "Well we've lost a bag already, yes."

Most flights were on schedule Saturday, but airport officials warn that will not be the case as we get closer to Thanksgiving. The busiest days are said to be the Wednesday before thanksgiving and the Sunday and Monday following.