It’s a lot quieter at Miami International Airport Thanksgiving Day after a mad dash for travelers the past couple of days, but there is still a decent number of people traveling.
Folks are using the holiday to their advantage and flying on Thanksgiving Day to get a head start on the weekend.
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“It was the only way to see my family and get there tonight,” traveler Alicia Shuman said.
MIA tweeted Wednesday that the airport car garages are full and encouraged people to get to the airport through ridesharing and other means.
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Travelers hopping on last minute flights on Thanksgiving Day are hoping to make it to their destination in time for dinner.
“I wanted to fly out there today and have the whole weekend. As it is, I extended my trip a few more days,” Shulman said.
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Lines through TSA were surprisingly short and sweet.
Alicia Shuman says the day has been pretty seamless, except for some cancellations earlier this week.
“It was a drag, but considering everything going on, if that’s the worst that can happen, but I’m here and it’s empty and it’s great,” Shuman said.
Maria, Sophie and Kelly are heading to Los Angeles for a concert, taking advantage of the quieter travel day.
“We figured we would leave today. Almost everybody is already in their destinations so it would be less, less travel, crowded,” one in the group said.
Others were able to split the difference and spend the holiday in two countries in one day.
“I’m very happy to travel on Thanksgiving because the airports aren’t full and I get to see both sons. I had breakfast and now I’m going to have dinner in Panama with my other one,” one traveler said.
MIA is expecting Sunday to be a huge travel day and potentially could break records with nearly 160,000 people expected to come through the airport.