Christmas Day becomes ideal travel day for some at RDU

While Santa has returned to the North Pole after another Christmas, holiday travel is still not over.

Many travelers spend Christmas Day touching down and taking off from Raleigh-Durham International Airport. While the holiday season is one of the busiest times at the airport, many said they didn’t struggle to make their flights.

It was a stark contrast to Christmas Eve when a technical error grounded several American Airlines flights for hours, including 15 flights out of RDU.

Bakul Patel, who went to RDU to drop his parents before their flight to India, said airport traffic was “a breeze.”

“Traffic here wasn’t so bad, but the airport doesn’t seem so busy today either,” he told WRAL News. “We’re gonna go over to my brother’s place and have dinner, relax, put on our pajamas and eat some food.

While travel was smoother than earlier in the week, some were not as lucky. According to FlightAware, which provides real-time tracking for flights across the country, 14 flights were delayed and two were canceled Wednesday at RDU.

Ursula Polo, whose family is heading to Kenya for a family member’s wedding, said Christmas ended up being the ideal day to travel.

“I don’t have to cook so I think that’s an advantage, and we open gifts early so that’s an advantage as well,” she said.

With Christmas wrapping up and New Year’s Eve approaching, there are still busy travel days ahead to close out 2024.

Tips for RDU Travelers:

• Allow extra time: Expect road congestion in the late afternoon and evening
• Book parking online: Reserve parking at parkrdu.com at least 24 hours in advance for guaranteed entry. Check rdu.com for availability if not pre-booked
• Check your flight: Use airline apps or rdu.com for flight status updates. Verify your flight’s status before leaving home.
• Arrive early: Arrive 2 hours early for domestic flights and 3 hours early for international trips to allow time for parking, check-in, and security.
• Prepare for security: Review TSA guidelines and consider expedited options like PreCheck or CLEAR.
• Use the cell lot: For pickups, wait in the free Cell Lot at 1000 Trade Drive until your party is ready. Allow 30 minutes for them to collect their bags and meet you curbside.

To reduce congestion, pickups at Terminal 2 can be done on upper and lower levels.

Another tip for travelers: many economy parking lots at RDU are currently full. However, finding an open spot may be easier thanks to green indicator lights that show available spaces.

Fewer people are also expected to hit the road for Christmas travel, but those who do have some good news. Drivers will likely see the lowest Christmas Day gas prices since 2020 during the pandemic, according to GasBuddy.