Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful day filled with friends and family. My whole family is in town and will be gathering at my parents’ house in a few hours for food, fun, and football (Go Cowboys!).

During most of the year, there are enough frequent travelers to keep the airports moving smoothly. However, during the holidays the skies are filled with occasional travelers, some who travel only once a year or less. This post is for them! If you don’t fly often the procedures of airlines and airports can seem baffling and overwhelming. Here are a few tips to make it easier.

(If you have any of these infrequent fliers with you today, feel free to print this off and hand it to them.)

1. Check your flight status before you leave the airport. Weather, air traffic delays, and general overcrowding can make your flights leave later than scheduled. Go to your airline’s webpage (or call them) to make sure everything is running on time.
2. Get to the airport early. Normally this is not something I recommend, but during the holidays there is so much chaos! If it makes you feel calmer to have extra time then definitely arrive early.
3. Have everything ready to go when you get to the security line. Make sure before you reach the front of the security line that you have your boarding pass and ID in your hand. Also, if you are traveling with a laptop have it at the top of your bag so it’s easy to take out. Finally, once you’re through the scanners grab all of your stuff and move out of the way to the nearby benches. All of these things will keep the line moving as quickly as possible!
4. Listen to the professionals. There are people at the airport who are there to help. When going through the security line the TSA officers will be giving you instructions. At the gate, the gate agent will tell you when to line up to board and what the boarding restrictions are. Once you’re on the plane the flight attendants will give you all kinds of instructions, including where to put your bags. Pay attention to these folks! The more everyone listens the more smoothly everything will go.

Readers, do you have any tips for holiday travelers?

And a quick note: One of Amazon’s daily deals is a mobile charger by Anker. Normally $100, on sale for $28. Quite a steal!

Be sure to check out my page with products I recommend for travel!

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