How to Survive the Holiday Travel Season

Filed in archive Aviation Travel on November 8, 2007

It's that time of year again. Yes, you guess it. Holiday Travel. And if you read this blog regularly this particular piece of information may not be great news for you, especially in light of engines falling off planes, pilots falling asleep, and the worst on-time arrival record in 13 years. But, we still have to travel. However, there's a great article on MSNBC, about how to handle the holiday travel season. Get ready and good luck.

1. Celebrate another time
Consider not traveling this time of year. Some families avoid the stress, expense and over-inflated expectations of the "official" holiday season by planning their gatherings when the weather is better, airplanes less crowded and deals more plentiful.

2. Time shift
Highways, train stations, airports and airplanes are often quite empty on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. If your family can shift when it eats that big meal, has that big party or gathers around for an exchange of gifts, you might avoid much of the hassle of holiday travel.

3. Linger longer
A missed flight connection can ruin the holidays. If possible, book a direct flight and start your trip early in the day when flights are more likely to be on time. If you can't fly direct, make sure you leave lots of time between flights. It's better to spend an hour or two poking around the shops and restaurants at the airport and going standby on an earlier flight than worrying about how the heck you're going to race your way across the airport to try to reach the gate for that connecting flight.

4. Read and research
Some of the stress of travel comes from not knowing what to expect. You can find a lot of real-time and historical data about airports and airlines, including statistics about on-time departures, at the Department of Transportation's Web site. If you live in or are going to a city served by more than one airport, for example, you might increase your chances of arriving on-time by choosing the better-performing facility.