Chicago roads, airports to see heavy holiday traffic with millions of travelers expected

Chicago Reindeer- and sleigh-less airline drivers and passengers are rushing: It’s starting to look like another record for US holiday travel.

More than 3 million passengers are expected to travel through Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway International airports through Jan. 2, the Chicago Department of Aviation said, with Monday expected to be the busiest day in O’Hare.

The O’Hare airline project will see 243,000 passengers pass through the airport on Monday, the CDA said. According to officials, that’s a seven percent increase from the busiest holiday travel day in 2023. Photos and videos from the airport early Monday showed that lines at security and ticket counters were already receding.

The CDA projects that Sunday, December 29 will be the busiest day at Midway, when more than 51,000 people will pass through the airport.

Air traffic is expected to be light on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The slowest day of air travel in the United States this year, by a wide margin, was Thanksgiving Day.

At the national level, the Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers during the holidays and until January 2.

Heavy holiday traffic expected on Chicago roads

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The AAA auto club predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home through New Year’s Day, which would surpass the previous holiday season high set in 2019.

According to AAA, Chicago’s busiest holiday has passed, as Sunday, December 22, was predicted to be the busiest day for cars on the road. Still, transportation data company INRIX recommends drivers avoid traveling during peak travel times during the holiday week.

“If schedules allow, leave early or after the overnight commute,” INRIX transportation analyst Bob Pishue said in a statement.

According to INRIX, the worst time to travel by car in the US on Monday will be between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Minimal traffic is expected on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, INRIX said.

Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The national average last week was $3.05 per gallon, down from $3.08 a year ago, according to AAA. Charge an electric vehicle It averages just under 35 cents per kilowatt hour, but varies by state.

Weather and other wildcards

Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than during the Thanksgiving rush, but the routine of one hectic day followed by another takes its toll on flight crews. . And any setback – a winter storm either a computer cut – can snowball into massive disruptions.

This is how Southwest Airlines 2 million travelers were stranded in December 2022, and Delta Airlines suffered a minor but significant collapse after a global technology blackout in July caused by a faulty software update from the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Many flights during the holidays are sold out, making cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. This is especially true for lower-budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “interline agreements” that allow them to put stranded customers on another airline’s flights.

This will be the first holiday season since a Department of Transportation rule requiring airlines to provide customers with a automatic cash back for a canceled or significantly delayed flight. Most air travelers were already entitled to refunds, but often had to request them.

Passengers can still request to be rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. This is because finding yourself a last-minute flight on another airline tends to be very expensive.

“When they change your reservation, they will pay you the difference in fare. If my flight to visit grandma that I booked six months ago for $200 is canceled, and four hours from now I book a flight for $400, I’ll have to pay that difference,” said Sally French, a travel expert at consumer-affairs company Nerdwallet. .

People traveling on low-cost airlines with fewer flights and no partnerships with other airlines may face a difficult decision. in case of a canceled flight.

“They will put you on the next departing Spirit or Frontier flight, but that could be a while. Sometimes waiting three days for the next flight is not going to work for you,” and paying more to rebook a great airline it might be worth it, French said.

Some airlines are taking advantage of a provision in the new Department of Transportation rule that defines a significant delay as three hours for a domestic flight and six hours for an international flight. According to Brett Snyder, who runs the website Cranky Flyer, airlines that previously issued refunds for shorter delays (Delta, United and JetBlue, for example) are now using the government standard.

Delayed flights increase the risk of lost bags. Passengers who become separated from their bags should report this to the airline and ask what the airline will cover. Learn more about how to get a refund for delayed or canceled flights can be found here.