8 tips for all you holiday travelers out there

Christmas is upon us. Although it's the most joyful time of the year, it also means crowded airports, long check-in lines and stressing through security. Check out our 10 tips to survive traveling during the holidays!

1. Avoid popular travel days

You can save a lot of time and stress by choosing to travel when nobody else is. As Christmas Day falls on a new day each year, so does the most popular travel dates. It is however quite easy too figure out which days you want to avoid.

Most people want to get as much vacation as possible without taking too many days off work. This year Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday, which means business could still be open Monday the 23rd, Thursday the 26th as well as Friday the 27th. Therefore these three days should be less busy. Most people probably travel on Christmas Eve, or even the weekend before if they have taken the entire Christmas week off work. If you want to avoid people all together a good day to travel is on Christmas Day itself!

2. Travel in the morning

By booking an early flight you can avoid both crowds and delays. Airports are usually a lot less busy in the morning because it's a less popular time to travel. Traveling early in the morning also increases the chances that the flight will depart on time.

3. Leave early

Make sure you have enough time at the airport by leaving home early. On peak travel days there's a good chance traffic is heavy and that it takes a lot longer to find a parking spot. And of course; lines at check-in and security will be a lot longer than usual.

You can check flight status on websites like fstatus.com or flightstats.com. Find the flight number on your ticket (looks something like AA 123) and type it in on one of the websites mentioned.

4. Reserve a parking spot

By reserving a parking spot in advance you can avoid spending valuble minutes circling the parking lot. During big holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas there's a big chance that the parking lots are quite full. If possible, consider taking the bus or train to the airport and leave the car at home.

5. Take a shortcut

If you're an elite status member, have a business or first class ticket or if TSA PreCheck is available you can avoid long lines at the airport. With all the above you can usually enjoy priority check-in, security screening and boarding. Have in mind though, that during the holidays even priority lines tend to be longer than normal.

6. Check in at home

Don't spend time at the check-in at the airport. Today you can check in from your computer or phone at home. You can also print or download your boarding ticket, which saves you a lot of time!

7. Choose another airport

It might be both cheaper and less stressful to book a flight from another airport than the one you usually travel from. If possible, look around for alternate options. 

8. Ship your gifts

Have your Christmas gifts delivered instead of dragging them through the airport.