Pack your patience for your holiday travels

NORTH TEXAS - If you're traveling by air this holiday season, get ready to not only pack your bags but your patience as well.

Travel experts predict record air travel in the next several days.

Overall this travel season, DFW International Airport is expecting about 4.5 million passengers to stroll in and out during a three-week period.

The busiest day will be Friday, with the airport expecting about 246,000 customers. That adds up to a 4.8% increase from last year's winter holiday break.

To accommodate more air traffic, the Federal Aviation Agency said it's opening military airspace and about 170 new routes.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said his agency is working to make sure flights stay on schedule, but that mother nature could have other plans.

Some passengers CBS News Texas spoke with made sure they got here early, while others remember the chaos of last year-and hoping for the best.

"Just making sure I was packed on time and getting out the door," said Natalie Gullo, who is traveling to North Carolina.

"We spent the night here and we live about three hours away. We always fly out of DFW," said Sherrie Raughton, traveling to Rivera Maya. "It's more convenient and so we hopped on the shuttle got here and now we're standing in line waiting."

"I was stranded for another week and a half in South Carolina when they had that thing with the airlines for Christmas but no, not this time. Hopefully," said Lynaire Thomas, going to South Carolina.

With the increase in traffic, officials urge you to get to the airport about two hours before your flight departs.

Another piece of advice from airport officials: Don't wrap gifts because there's a chance TSA agents may have to unwrap them for security reasons.