According to AAA, around 80 million people are expected to travel during Thanksgiving week, with nearly six million of those flights being domestic. Travel is expected to peak on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday.
That represents an 11% increase over 2019 and a 2% increase over the previous year.
Annabelle Tantingco, a Tribune Store Clerk at Oakland International Airport, stated that she has not yet noticed those figures.
Tantingco said, “I hope it’s going to be busy tomorrow.” “I anticipate it. It’s not too busy currently, though.
Tantingco has spent thirty years working at the shop. She claims to have witnessed a shift in people’s travel preferences during that time.
Tantingco remarked, “It was really busy ten or twenty years ago.” “Thanksgiving was more busy than December, Christmas.”
For her, the holiday now seems less important and more like any other workday.
Tantingco remarked, “It’s like all the same, especially my store,”
John Foston decided to fly on Tuesday rather than Wednesday after hearing the AAA report that predicted more travel. For a flight to Las Vegas, he arrived at the airport three hours early.
“I anticipated that it would be packed. I assumed we would be really busy after listening to the news. However, we’re not present,” Foston stated. “It’s easy. I just walked right up to the kiosk and I’m good to go.”
Foston wasn’t mad about his early arrival and said it was better than the alternative.
“I’m on this side of 50, so I’ve been young, not knowing and been running through the airport to try and catch my flight,” said Foston about his past experiences. For the birds, that is. Now I know to arrive early. If I’m an hour, two hours early, got time to kill, it’s better than running through here trying to catch a flight or — worse still — miss a flight.”
The Oakland Airport is expecting 340,000 passengers over the Thanksgiving holiday period, which started last Friday and ends Sunday. That’s a slight decrease from last year.
Despite many travelers enjoying the smooth and efficient travel experience, Tantingco is hoping for things to get a little busier.
“I want rush,” she said. “Because I’ve been working here for a long time. I’m used to it now. I want busy.”
It is still recommended that people arrive early during the holidays and be patient, because lines may get long.
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