GREER, S.C. (WSPA) – It’s no secret that traveling during the holidays can be irritating.
“Just getting through security is always a hassle,” said Claire Philpot, a traveler.
Now, add weather into the mix and it could be even more chaotic.
“What will happen is this is a system, so the airplanes leaving here are going to go somewhere that may be experiencing some weather so you have to kind of make sure that you look at your flight status,” said Tom Tyra, director of communications at GSP International Airport.
And to top it all off, more crowds.
“We’re expecting close to 40,000 people moving through the airport between Wednesday and next Tuesday,” said Tyra.
But as Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport is gearing up for the busiest time of year, they said they aren’t worried, and travelers shouldn’t be either.
“Pack some patience, plan ahead and get here ahead of time and your flight will be great,” said Tyra.
They said the flight will be great as long as preparation isn’t forgotten.
While this year is different from last year for a number of reasons, the biggest is the amount of passengers. It’s something GSP said airports are urging people to acknowledge ahead of time.
“There’s a lot more people traveling this year than last year, even with a little higher airline prices and prices in general due to inflation,” said Tyra. “We’re not seeing demand in travel drop down any, we’re actually seeing very full airplanes. We’re probably going to be 90 percent or more full on every single flight moving out of GSP in the next week or so.”
Heading into the holiday weekend, the airport said Wednesday and Thursday are the busiest days going out, with Monday and Tuesday being busiest for coming back.
But to help travelers fend off some of the inconveniences that big of a crowd may bring, they planned some perks in advance.
“If you pre-book your parking in advance at gspairport.com, use the holiday code, just the promo code holiday you can save 30 percent on your parking,” said Tyra.
That holiday code will be good to use through January 2nd.
GSP Airport recommends travelers to get to the airport two hours ahead of time.