Holiday Travel Chaos: How Weather and Crowds Are Testing Patience

Holiday travel is in full swing, and it's not going smoothly for everyone. Airports across the country are packed, with Sunday being the busiest day of the season. Over 2. 9 million people went through TSA checkpoints nationwide, and nearly 31, 000 of them were at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. The airport saw its busiest day of the holiday season last Monday, and the crowds haven't let up since. Winter weather is making things even worse. A storm system moving through the Midwest caused major delays and cancellations over the weekend, and airports are still playing catch-up. Travelers like Veletta Crawford are feeling the impact. She's heading to California and says she's worried about turbulence over the Midwest. She arrived at the airport early, advising others to do the same. "Don't wait until the last minute, " she said. As of Monday afternoon, BWI had nearly 150 delays and 18 cancellations in the last 24 hours, according to Flight Aware. Some passengers, like Bianca Leonard, expected problems because of high winds but say their flights are still on time so far. Leonard is heading back to California after driving to BWI from Pittsburgh. She says traveling this year has been complicated but smooth so far. "There was a high wind warning this morning, but it seems to be okay so far, " she said.Road travel hasn't been much better. Storms on the East Coast and in the Midwest caused delays for drivers trying to get home after Christmas. Andrew Guthrie, visiting from Florida, tried to beat the bad weather driving back to Maryland from New York. "We had to clear Central Jersey by 4 p. m. , and we hit some freezing rain in Delaware, but it all worked out, " he said. Other travelers say they didn't see much extra traffic on the roads. One bright spot for drivers is lower gas prices. In Maryland, the average price per gallon is about 20 cents less than it was a year ago. "It's great not to see the crazy prices we've seen in the past, " said Fethi Mohammed. However, he notes that grocery prices haven't changed. AAA says the best time to drive is early in the morning, while the worst times are in the afternoon and evening. If you can hold off traveling until New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, there will be fewer people on the roads. But for now, holiday travelers are dealing with crowds, weather, and delays.