Thanksgiving Travel Tips From Portland International Airport

PORTLAND, OR – Traveling through Portland International Airport is usually a low-key, low-stress experience. The lines are short and, even when they're not, they move quickly.

Thanksgiving travel through PDX is a slightly different experience.

The airport says that while normally during the year, it takes about 10 minutes to get through security. This week, it often takes about twice that.

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More than 60,000 people are expected to pass through the airport on each of the four busiest days of the week – Tuesday, Nov. 20, Wednesday, Nov. 21, Sunday, Nov. 25, and Monday, Nov. 26.

Overall, they are expecting 384,000 people over the seven days from Nov. 20 to Nov. 26. If that happens as expected, it will be a record holiday season for PDX and contribute to what they believe will be their sixth straight year of record growth.

To help keep the experience this week as stress-free as possible, the airport is offering some tips:

If you're planning to park at the airport, check availability ahead of time because while they believe there will be spots available, they may not be at the lot that you are hoping for;

If you have an animal with you, the airport has some new rules, perhaps the most important of which is that unless your animal is a trained service animal – one that has been trained to perform specific tasks related to a person's disability – the animal must be kept in a carrier. The only exception is when the animal is using the pet relief area; and

Get there early. Thanksgiving is not a normal travel period at PDX. Things will take about twice as long as you're used to – it can get even a little more difficult in the early morning.

Plan appropriately and fly safe.

Photo via PDX/The Port of Portland.