"Give yourself plenty of time:" Thousands more expected to hit the road & the air this Thanksgiving
MILWAUKEE -- By ground or by air, plenty of people plan to travel this Thanksgiving holiday weekend. General Mitchell International Airport officials say they expect the busiest travel days to be Wednesday, November 25th (the day before Thanksgiving), and this weekend, after Thanksgiving -- when airport officials expect some 21,000 fliers each day.
Travel
There will be even more people hitting the road, according to AAA Wisconsin officials.
"Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, and this year`s gonna be no different," Nick Jarmusz with AAA Wisconsin said. "In Wisconsin, about 977,000 will be traveling -- mostly by car. About 90% will travel by car."
Jarmusz says this year marks the seventh consecutive year of growth in vehicle travel over the Thanksgiving holiday -- and the highest rate of travel we've seen since 2007.
"After the recession in 2008, we saw a dramatic drop off in the number of people traveling. We`ve been slowly inching our way up year-by-year. We`re still not quite to where we were before the recession, but we`re getting pretty close," Jarmusz said.
Mitchell International Airport officials are also expecting an increase in travelers this year.
Travel
"We are looking at a 16% increase over last year," Ryan McAdams, Mitchell International spokesman said. "During this time, the business traveler kinda drops off, while the leisure traveler picks up. So the great news is, here in Milwaukee, even though it`s a busy travel time, it`s very similar to a normal day."
What's not normal this year is the State Department's rare, global travel alert due to increased terror threats.
Travelers should prepare for additional security screening at airports, and unexpected disruptions.
Airport security
"Give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport and get through. We suggest 90 minutes to two hours," McAdams said.
McAdams says the airport's Trusted Traveler programs can help to expedite the security process by allowing fliers to skip certain portions.
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