New Yorkers joined nearly 40 million other Americans on planes, trains, buses, cars – and in endless waits – in what was billed as the biggest-ever Thanksgiving getaway yesterday.
Travelers said they were taking this year’s annoyances, including higher gas prices and airport delays, in stride as part of the annual late-November drill.
“It’s part of the whole holiday package: You get turkey, you get your cranberry, you get your holiday rush,” said Soorena Sadri, 29, as she waited at Penn Station. “And the next day you have to go shopping for Christmas.”
But this year loomed as a record travel period.
Some 38.7 million Americans were expected to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday period that runs from yesterday to Sunday. That’s roughly a 1.5 percent increase over last year, according to the American Automobile Association.
Most of the travelers, some 31.2 million, will be driving, but about 4.7 million were expected to fly. Amtrak expected more than 115,000 riders yesterday, an increase of 70 percent over a normal Wednesday.
Despite the threat of airport chaos, the convenience of flying convinced many travelers it was the way to go.
“It’s too long to drive,” Sally MacDonald said as she, her husband, Neil, and three children waited at La Guardia for a family reunion in Arkansas. “This gives us more time to enjoy family instead of having our three little kids in a car for 22 hours.”
But for many travelers there’s more than one leg on their travel adventure.
“Every seat was taken,” Joan Gates, 74, said of her Amtrak ride from Virginia to visit her family in New York.
But then she had to wait on the endless line for a taxi outside Penn Station.
“This is New York,” she said. “What do you expect?”
Jason Moon, 34, left home in New York at about 7 a.m. to make it to Newark Airport for an 11 a.m. flight to Tokyo to visit a friend.
He said he doesn’t mind missing turkey. “We’ll have sushi, maybe,” Moon. said
The luckiest fliers were those who had morning flights, when delays were minor yesterday.
“It’s been very smooth,” said Marleise Brosnan, 52, who was heading from La Guardia to relatives in Raleigh, NC. “I wasn’t anticipating a delay, and I haven’t run into one.”
But delays for arriving flights soon reached an hour at La Guardia and nearly two hours at Newark.
Along for the ride at La Guardia was 10-year-old Liana Merdinger, of Long Beach, LI, who was waiting with her mother, Joan, for a flight to Orlando. They planned to cook the big day’s meal after they arrive.
“Sweet potatoes and marshmallows. That’s my favorite,” Liana said. But, she added, that wasn’t the highlight of the holiday.
“I think it’s spending time with family,” Liana said.
Many travelers said they took extra time getting to terminals and stations because they expected delays.
“I’d rather take my time and sit than be rushing though the security line,” said Suzanne Safarowic, who left her Leonia, NJ, home four hours before her flight from Newark to Fort Lauderdale.
Crowds began to fill Penn Station’s waiting room before dawn, but there were no major interruptions with Amtrak, LIRR or New Jersey Transit.
Lines early in the day were also short at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, as Sonja Cavanzo, 23, a college student from The Bronx, waited to buy her ticket to Columbus, Ohio, to spend turkey day with her boyfriend’s family. She said she was bringing “a teddy bear for his mother, and a Christmas ornament and little Christmas tree for him.”
Travelers said they were willing to put up with the hassles of the day in order to be with loved ones.
Mark Doyle, 28, of Washington Heights, was traveling to Boston with his sister to see their family. He said he hadn’t tried to brave the hectic crowds at Penn Station in seven years, “and it’s a little crazy.”
“It’s a lot of people, and it sounds like some of the trains have been late,” said Doyle, an editor with DC Comics. “Travel is a bear any way you look at it, but just thinking about being there is what gets you through it.” With Post Wire Services