Holiday Travel Tips

With the holiday season upon us, many people will be travelling to visit family and friends. The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is providing more convenient travel than ever before with service to a record-breaking 57 non-stop destinations on fifteen airlines. New domestic destinations include two new routes with Allegiant Air to Concord, North Carolina, beginning November 18, 2016, and Cleveland, Ohio, set to launch February 17, 2017. GLO also began service to its fifth destination Huntsville, Alabama, on September 30, 2016.

To make your holiday travel from Armstrong International a more enjoyable experience, we want to share some helpful travel tips.

1.     Travel on off-peak days.

In general, the Wednesday before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving are the busiest airport travel days. Christmas and New Year’s occur on the weekend this year, so it is expected that the Friday and Monday around the holidays will be busy travel days.  Passengers should take this into account when making their airline reservations.  Off-peak days may offer less congestion or possibly a lower air fare.

2.     Arrive early.

During the holiday travel season, the number of passengers travelling will typically be greater than the rest of the year. For this reason, please allow sufficient time to arrive, park or drop off passengers, check-in with your airline, and process through security to arrive at your gate in a timely manner. Airlines recommend that passengers arrive at least 2 hours prior to their scheduled departure time.   Remember not all parking options may be available at all times during peak holiday travel.  Consider taking alternate transportation to the Airport to avoid parking congestion.

3.     Avoid lines.

The airline check-in process may be longer than normal during the busy travel periods like holidays. To avoid these lines, it is recommended to check-in online. Most airlines provide an option to check-in for your flight on their website or using their app up to 24 hours before your scheduled departure time. Print boarding passes at home or consider using an electronic boarding pass on your smartphone.  Also consider using a carry-on bag instead of checking a bag so you can bypass the airline ticket counter and go right to the security checkpoint with your boarding pass and carry-on bag.  Please check with your airline on their limitation of size and weight for carry-on bags.

The TSA Pre✓™ Program can also help speed up the process of getting to your gate. Passengers enrolled in TSA Pre✓™ can expect a shorter wait time at the security checkpoint and quicker screening because they do not have to remove shoes, laptops, liquids, belts, or jackets when being screened. For more information about the TSA Pre✓™ Program or to enroll, please visit   https://universalenroll.dhs.gov/programs/precheck.

4.     Follow TSA packing and travel tips.

Passengers should be prepared for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security screening process to help minimize the screening wait times. To expedite the screening process, our passengers should visit the TSA website at www.tsa.gov beforehand to become familiar with what items can and cannot be carried on-board the aircraft. The TSA web site has tips and videos on prohibited items, the 3-1-1 liquid rule, traveling with infants, what type of locks may be used on your checked bags and many more areas of interest that will help you prepare for travel.

For example, wrapped gifts are not prohibited as long as they do not contain any item that cannot be carried on-board the aircraft. However, if for some reason a wrapped package needs to be further checked by TSA, they may have to unwrap it to take a closer look inside. We recommend passengers wrap their holiday gifts after their flight or ship them ahead of time to avoid the possibility of having to open them during the screening process. Items purchased after the security checkpoint have been pre-screened and can be taken on the plane.