Traditionally, the nation’s busiest travel day is the Sunday following Thanksgiving. Lines were longer than usual at San Francisco International, Oakland International, and San Jose International.
Rachel Rider of Watsonville remarked, “We just traveled back from Florida,” while she waited to get her bags.
After spending time with her family, Rider, her husband, and their three girls arrived at SFO on Sunday afternoon.
“We haven’t had Thanksgiving with them for three years, so that was really special to be home and see all of my side of the family in Florida,” Rider said.
The rider said that, for the most part, the journey went smoothly despite the lengthy flight.
“Two hours prior to our departure, we arrived at the airport as usual. It’s true that we nearly missed the plane during our connection in Dallas. Other than that, though, it was really simple,” Rider added. “We had plane trouble, but it wasn’t crowd trouble.”
Tens of thousands of people passed through the airport, including Rider’s family, according to SFO officials. Only departure numbers are provided by airports.
Based on tickets that were pre-purchased, the SFO on-duty manager anticipated that 82,800 individuals would depart on Sunday. He predicted that there will be around 165,000 passengers overall on Sunday with roughly the same number of arrivals.
Officials at the smaller San Jose International Airport estimated that roughly 90,000 passengers would depart from SJC between Wednesday and Sunday.
Officials at Oakland International Airport did not yet have the Sunday figure. However, they reported that approximately 129,000 people flew out of OAK between November 22 and November 30.
“We’re returning from Oregon’s Portland. Also, there weren’t many people at the airport. wasn’t too horrible. Well done on your flight. John and Jennifer Evans were waiting for their bags at OAK when they said, “No delays whatsoever, easy.”
Parents tried a variety of strategies to keep their young children happy and occupied during the holidays because many of them were traveling.
“My daughter, who is four years old, is an expert; she has already taken a few flights. She is therefore a skilled traveler. And then with the iPad, that keeps her attention,” said Quintin Glover at OAK.
Many travelers reported that there were often no significant queue problems. They said that the holiday break’s excessively brief duration was the main issue.
“We adore San Francisco. We don’t want to leave,” said Jessica Escalon, who was visiting family in San Francisco from Los Angeles. “I don’t want to go home, but we’re going home, I guess. I’ve got to go back to work tomorrow.”
Rider said while traveling with kids is never easy, Sunday wrapped up an amazing trip for her family.
“I’m relaxed. I’m ready to go back to work,” said Rider.
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