MIDLAND, Texas — With post-Thanksgiving flights now making their landing, Christmas flights are looking to take off in the coming weeks for the holiday.
This is why travel experts urge you to plan your travels wisely prior to flying out.
"If you can leave before the rush so two or three days before Christmas Eve is always good," said Shelli McGee, Manager at National Travel Systems.
However if you want to escape long lines, you could even leave on Christmas Day.
"Christmas Day is always a great day to travel actually. Nobody really wants to travel on Christmas Day but it is a great day for travel. If you can leave the morning and get there a little later in the day and still have your Christmas with your family, that's a great day to travel," McGee said.
With all the hustle and bustle the week leading up to Christmas Day brings, you're encouraged to arrive more than two hours early to the airport.
"Get to the airport on time, when I say on time that usually, we say two hours, but during the holidays we say pack on an extra 30 mins for security just because the airports are very busy during the holiday season," McGee said.
As for returning back home during your Christmas travel, try to stay away from flying back the day right after Christmas Day.
"If your holiday falls on a Sunday, Monday is going to be your worst day to travel so if you can wait till Tuesday or Wednesday you'll see your rates will be a lot better and your availability will be a lot better," said McGee.
Experts also stress the importance of "packing your patience" during the whole travel process.
"I encourage my clients when they're traveling and there's a problem to be nice and courteous to the airport people and airlines people that are having to deal with all of that because it is stressful. My best advice to give you is to be nice and courteous to those people and other passengers around you," said McGee.