Posted: Wednesday, 21 November 2007 11:30AM
Holiday Travelers Get Underway
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Millions of Americans have begun hitting the roads, skies and train tracks in what is predicted to be one of the busiest Thanksgiving travel days ever.
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A record 38.7 million U.S. residents were expected to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday. Some were hoping to beat the evening rush on what is often called the busiest travel day of the year.
At LaGuardia Airport, the check-in lines were beginning to build shortly before daybreak. Joe Vizzari, a teacher from Port Chester, N.Y., was resigned to the crowds.
``It's part of flying,'' he said, en route to Raleigh, N.C., to visit friends. ``I just stay calm and cool and call my loved ones on my cell and tell them not to worry, I'm on the way.''
Sally and Neil MacDonald, of Sandy Hook, Conn., were heading to Arkansas for a big family reunion.
``It's too long to drive,'' said Sally MacDonald, surrounded by her kids at a crowded LaGuardia food court. ``This gives us more time to enjoy family instead of having our three little kids in the car for 22 hours.''
Brianna, Courtney and Cameron were looking forward to ``Grandpa's ribbies, Uncle Bruce's cinammon rolls and swimming in the pool at the hotel,'' she said.
She was carrying pumpkin cheesecake in a covered plastic pie plate. They'd checked the Transportation Security Administration Web site, which said food is allowed as long as it's covered so it doesn't spill on the conveyer belt.
``If they don't allow it, I guess the airport security will be enjoying my pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving,'' she said.
Liana Merdinger, 10, from Long Beach, N.Y., and her mother, Joan, were going to Orlando, Fla. Liana's father, Mitch, an engineer, went down earlier in the week.
Travel hassles don't phase Liana: ``I am 10 years old and I've been on 12 cruises,'' noted the fifth grader.
They arrived at LaGuardia three hours early because they didn't know what to expect. At 6 a.m., the lines were short _ and they had lots of time to kill.
``I'm gong to go sleep!'' declared Liana.
They'll do their cooking when they arrive. ``Sweet potatoes and marshmallows. That's my favorite,'' declared Liana.
What's the most important thing about the holiday? ``I think it's spending time with family,'' said Liana.
At the Salt Lake City airport, Dennis Tos made sure to try to avoid delays and crowds by boarding a redeye flight shortly before midnight.
``I specifically chose this hour to not get stuck in an airport. The horror stories kind of bothered me,'' he said en route to a family reunion near Buffalo, N.Y. ``I've never missed a Thanksgiving in the 58 years I've been alive.''
About 31.2 million travelers were expected to drive to holiday celebrations in spite of gas prices that were nearly 85 cents more per gallon than they were a year earlier, according to AAA. The national average for regular gasoline on Nov. 16 was $3.09 a gallon, up from $2.23 on Nov. 17, 2006.
``Wednesday ends up getting hairy,'' AAA spokeswoman Christine Brown said. ``Many people have to wait until after work to leave, and they're competing with commuters as well.''
At Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, hundreds of travelers were already heading out of town Tuesday night, wrangling their bags and sprawling on the floor as they waited for their trains.
Robert Kaldenboch, 18, dressed in his uniform from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island, looked around wide-eyed at the crowd.
``There are more cows than people where I'm from,'' the Texas native said. ``So this is quite a change.''
Hours later, travelers trickled into the station in the pre-dawn darkness. More than 20 people waited in line for the Amtrak ticket office to open.
Carrie Seligson wasn't one of them. The 38-year-old construction worker bought her ticket in advance because she feared heavy traffic later Wednesday. She said she also got a better rate by booking a seat on one of the earliest trains to Washington, where she was going to spend the holiday with her family and attend her 20th high school reunion.
``I wasn't sure what I was in for,'' said Seligson, who arrived at the station an hour before her scheduled departure. ``There are too many people later in the day, and the train gets too crowded.''
Amtrak expected more than 115,000 riders on Wednesday, about a 70 percent increase over a usual Wednesday, spokesman Cliff Cole said. An electrical breakdown had snarled train traffic on the Northeast rail corridor over the weekend, but everything was running smoothly for the holiday, Cole said.
Travelers are also heading out in Connecticut.
After an initial rush around 5 a.m., crowds at Bradley International Airport thinned out Wednesday morning, becoming slow and steady for holiday travelers.
Ben Cross, a pilot for Continental Express flying out of Bradley, said he has noticed it is always busy during the Thanksgiving holiday rush.
``It's not bad if you get here early, but as the afternoon progresses, it gets busier,'' Cross said.
Sherry Faris, a United Airlines flight attendent who lives in Chicago, says it's not as busy as expected because people left earlier in the week to be with their families to avoid last mnute snags.
``They want to make sure they get their Thanksgiving turkey,'' Faris said.
Faris said she has noticed that holiday travelers tend to bring along more carryon items.
``We have a problem with people who bring too much baggage on the plane,'' she said.
Some seasoned travelers at Bradley Wednesday morning said they minimized problems with planning.
Chris Feinsinger and is wife Heather from Simsbury, said they travel to Florida each year to see family.
``It's always fast. Bradley is a small airport. It's not that complicated to get in or out,'' Chris Feinsinger said.
Feinsinger said there was no line at the security checkpoint when he and his wife arrived.
``We wish there were long lines. They would give us something to do besides waiting at the gate,'' Feinsinger said.
Sean and Lori McHugh from Haddam were at Bradley with their 4-year-old daughter, Riley. They go to Disneyworld in Florida for the holiday every year.
Sean McHugh said they have got holiday travel down to a science. They always stay at the hotel at airport and leave early.
``We've being doing this a few years and I don't notice any problems. We've streamlined it.'' McHugh said.
State police were keeping their eyes on the highways which were expected to be crowded despite the highest ever gas prices in November.
The motor club AAA projected that 38.7 million Americans will be driving or flying for holiday trips on Thursday, up from 38.1 million last year. Most, 31.2 million, will be in their cars and trucks, up 1.3 percent from 2006. About 4.8 million will be flying, a 2.1 percent increase.
The number of air and land commuters has increased steadily since it dropped to 35.4 million in 2001 after the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, according to AAA. In 2000, 36.4 million people left their homes on Thanksgiving trips.
In the Northeast, the number of air travelers was expected to increase nearly 3 percent to about 800,000, while road journeyers were projected to total 2.4 million, an increase of less than 1 percent.
The National Weather Service predicted cloudy skies with areas of fog in the morning and a chance of showers in the afternoon Wednesday. Thick fog was blamed for 19 flight delays at Los Angeles International Airport Tuesday.
``That's not the best news for fliers, that's for sure,'' said AAA's Jim MacPherson, referring to the weather forecast. ``We expect a healthy increase in the number of people traveling by air.''
He said there shouldn't be any major problems on the roads.
``But people should anticipate pretty heavy traffic during the peak periods, which are on Wednesday and Sunday,'' MacPherson said.
The average price of a gallon of regular gas in Connecticut was $3.22 Tuesday, 13 cents higher than the national average.
Travelers have had some challenges to overcome in New Jersey.
Bradley Gale couldn't find his bag; Jason Moon joked he'd have sushi for Thanksgiving while visiting a friend in Tokyo.
The two at Newark Liberty International Airport were among millions of Americans who hit the roads, skies and train tracks Wednesday in what was predicted to be the largest Thanksgiving pilgrimage ever - despite rising gas prices and fears of air delays.
A record 38.7 million U.S. residents were expected to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday. Some were hoping to beat the evening rush on what is often called the busiest travel day of the year.
AAA Mid-Atlantic estimated that 521,400 New Jerseyans would go on a holiday trip.
There were no major problems to report Wednesday morning. But there was a chance that light fog might pose problems for area airports.
The FAA's flight delay Web site reported of general departure delays of 30 to 45 minutes, and lengthening, at Newark airport, where the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey expected 547,000 passengers over the holiday weekend.
Gale's trip home from a naval base in Beaufort, S.C., started out at 3 a.m. By the time he reached Newark airport at about 8:30 a.m., he couldn't find his bag.
``I think they sent it to Houston,'' said Gale, 19, heading home to Oak Ridge.
Moon, 34, left home in New York about 7 a.m. to make it to Newark airport for a 11 a.m. flight to Tokyo to visit a friend.
``We'll have sushi, maybe,'' said Moon, who works in advertising.
Joanne Wieland, 62, of Lakewood, didn't want any problems getting through security for her flight to Ontario, Calif., so she packed just about everything in checked luggage. She also made sure to show up for her flight at Newark three hours early.
``So far so good,'' she said.
At Pennsylvania Station in New York, there was a growing knot of people with heavy suitcases in the Amtrak waiting area.
Ryan Bevilacqua and Jeremy Lyon, 23-year-old childhood buddies headed back home to Harrisburg, Pa., passed the time by talking about - of all things - train derailments.
But all joking aside, they said, riding the rails was guaranteed to be better than driving.
``The drive from here to Harrisburg? It's awful,'' said Bevilacqua. Traffic. Tolls. Road construction. No thanks.
``The trains here are really nice,'' Lyon said. ``The seats are comfortable. You can plug in your laptop. You can move around. It's great.''
Getting aboard may be the greatest challenge. At Penn Station, Amtrak doesn't announce what gate passengers will use to board a train until the last minute. Then, things can get bumpy.
A woman grabbed two young boys by the hand and gave them a quick primer.
``They're going to announce the track. Then everyone is going to run so they can be first in line. Be ready,'' she said.
``Track 11 east,'' a voice announced.
``Go! Go!'' the woman urged. |
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