GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The holiday rush has officially begun with people heading to the airport to spend time with their families for the holidays.
The airport today was busy outside as families dropped their loved ones off, while some were getting picked up ahead of Christmas weekend.
Inside the airport was much more calm, but that might change tomorrow as airport officials say it will be the busiest week of the year.
Some families are getting ahead of the airport traffic this year by taking advantage of a less busy travel day.
“I’m heading back down to Atlanta with my grandson Nolan”, said Mindy Pigeon. To send him back to his daddy. He works for Delta, so we get free flight benefits, so we're heading home before it gets started here in the travel world.”
More than 190,000 people are expected to travel through the airport from now to January 3rd.
Longer wait times at the ticket counter, bag drop, and security are expected, so planning ahead is what one traveler recommended.
“Be patient with it, the reality is, I fly for United Airlines for a number of years and sometimes the things you just can't get through, just have to wait to see what happens,” said Hal Higley, who traveled from Virginia to see his family in West Michigan.
“Give yourself that two-hour check in time because of the way the airports operate, and you got a chance of losing your seat. We used to pre-booked four to six months out, and we'd get up last time we're flying out of Chicago. We were on the list of being moved, and I’d made that six months ahead of time,” said Dale Schnicke.
Top holiday destinations this year include Orlando, Tampa and Phoenix. This year Operation Handshake will be at the airport thanking active military members as they arrive in West Michigan for the holidays.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and on your phone.