BOZEMAN, Mont. — With the holidays coming up, many travelers are headed to at least one airport, and they may find themselves stopping at multiple if their itinerary includes connecting flights.
Roughly 60% of airline travelers will be making at least one connection during their holiday flights, according to Scott Humphrey, chief operations officer for Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport.
He says any layover under an hour is a tight time frame for catching a connecting flight, especially at large airports. He recommends passengers take a look at the airport they are flying into first and set themselves up to get to their gate on time.
“If you can avoid, on a full flight, being in the back of the airplane where it takes you five minutes, 10 minutes to get off the aircraft helps quite a bit and just limit the amount of luggage that you’re carrying with you to get through the airport quickly,” said Humphrey.
He also suggests travelers download their airline’s app on their phone ahead of time, so if they miss a connecting flight, they can expedite the process of rebooking.
The Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport is expecting a busy holiday season, and airline passengers are advised to arrive at least two hours before their flight and expect full parking lots.
Another tip for holiday travel — don’t pack wrapped gifts in your luggage. Humphrey says if a checked bag is flagged to be searched, gifts will end up being unwrapped by security agents.