Maryland travelers get a jump on beating the holiday rush
Travelers in Maryland are getting ahead of the busy holiday rush by heading to their destination days in advance.
AAA projects that nearly 82 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the Thanksgiving holiday. Most of the holiday traffic will be from Tuesday, November 25, through Monday, December 1.
Record holiday travel
This year's domestic travel forecast includes an additional 1.6 million travelers compared to last Thanksgiving, setting a new overall record, according to AAA.
Travelers on Sunday at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport described the usual holiday shuffle as they prepared to visit family.
"I'm just traveling back and forth, seeing the family for the holiday season," Maryland resident Brianna Roush said.
"Boston, then I'm going to go to Martha's Vineyard, then up to Maine for Thanksgiving," said traveler Lee Silverman.
Train as an alternative
TSA expects to screen nearly 18 million travelers at airport during Thanksgiving week. However, that number could end up being slightly lower as some air travelers make other plans following recent flight cancellations.
Rail travel is also experiencing a surge this year. Amtrak is predicting record Thanksgiving passenger numbers.
"It's packed," said traveler Baron Willard. "There's not an open seat probably because people are tired of flights being cancelled."
Amtrak says it carried more than 1.2 million passengers last Thanksgiving and is projecting a double-digit increase this year. It is even adding extra cars on key routes such as Washington-New York-Boston to meet demand.
"I take the train in and out of Baltimore all the time," traveler Sherman said. "I love Amtrak, love the train."
What will be the busiest travel day?
TSA expects the Sunday after Thanksgiving to be one of the busiest travel days in the administration's history, with more than three million travelers.
Ahead of the holiday rush, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to talk about new safety investments for TSA checkpoints and a focus on hospitality training.
"It's helping individuals feel much more comfortable while we make sure that we're also getting them screened into their flights on time," Noem said.