If you don’t like crowds, being patted down by strangers or paying bizarro travel fees, then you are better off staying home rather than going over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house for the holidays.
But can you really celebrate Turkey Day without grandma’s stuffing? According to AAA, most of us can’t, which is why an estimated 600,000 Americans plan to hit the highway and nearly 33,000 plan to catch a flight to spend Turkey Day with loved ones this year.
If that’s not enough to make you pack some extra Pepto, consider that travel experts predict that some airlines will be flying at 90 percent capacity on the busiest days of the holiday period.
By the way, if you plan to fly on the busiest travel days of the year, expect your wallet to take a hit. Five of the nation’s largest carriers now charge fees to travel during the Thanksgiving holiday (and the latter half of December). However, don’t expect the fees to jump out and wave a turkey leg at you. Rather, they are baked into the fare. While you won’t see the surcharges itemized on your credit card statement, according to travel experts you will pay an extra $30 to fly on Sunday, November 28th or Monday, November 29th versus $10 on most other days surrounding the holiday.
Finally, for those, who frequent airports exclusively during the holiday season, brace yourselves for the TSA’s “advanced imaging technology,” a.k.a. full-body-imaging machines or “digital strip search” machines. According to travel experts, as of October 2010, there were 317 of the machines in place at 65 airports, with an estimated 450 expected to be in place by Christmas.
If you are opposed to undergoing a full-body screening (it is still optional) you will be forced to endure an “enhanced pat-down,” which, includes TSA agents sliding their hands up and down your body, including direct contact with your breasts, buttocks and groin areas.
Ho, ho, ho.
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