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Holiday Travel Headaches: Worse Time To Fly, Drive Depends On City

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Whether you're flying or driving, it's a busy time for travel across the country.

"This week is the number one travel time of the whole entire year," said Trudy Flores, Senior Vice President of TravelStore Sacramento. "It's very busy and you need to be very patient at the airport."

It's the most wonderful time of the year, but also the busiest. Airport officials at Sacramento International Airport expect Tuesday and Wednesday to be their busiest days of the month. They're even expecting some parking lots to fill up before Thanksgiving Day and the wait times for security to be longer than usual.

"It out beats Christmas and any other holiday for travel!" Flores said.

But according to AAA, in some cities there's a specific time of day that's the worst time to fly.

"I'm thinking it's in the morning because you got a meeting later at in the day and you got to leave in the morning to get there," said Luis Ojeda, who lives in Orland.

AAA says the worst time to fly out of nearby San Francisco is 9:40 a.m.

"Ah I was close, I was thinking like 5, 6!" Ojeda said.

"I think that's pretty accurate," Flores said. "Even Sacramento can get really crowded and really busy. It's the TSA line getting through before you get to your airline that's being impacted."

And what about hitting the road to avoid traffic and arrive before the turkey is gone?

"Yeah, I'm avoiding it like the plague," said Bonnie Rainor, who plans to spend the Thanksgiving at home instead of our driving.

According to AAA, the worst time to drive this week in Los Angeles is Tuesday from 3:15 to 6 p.m.  And in San Francisco 4 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Professional driver Pedro Palacios, who works for API Limousine Services, told CBS13 that number isn't far off for Sacramento.

"I mean there's a significant increase right at 4:30," he said.

He thinks it's likely because people are leaving the office or heading in for a nightshift.

"I mean, if you know the area, it's better to not put it in your GPS," Palacios said.

His advice is to avoid freeways and use the back roads, if you can. And even if you can't change your traveling times, you can change your attitude.

"Pack your patience, you've got to be able to just go with the flow!" Flores said.

If you're headed to the airport to park, this may save you some time. You can go to the airport's website and check out their parking map and look at how many spaces are available in each lot before you arrive.

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