Holiday Hustle & Bustle At Ft. Lauderdale's Airport
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - If you're catching a flight out of town for the holidays at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, pack your patience.
Airport officials expect more than 1,500,000 travelers are expected to fly in and out of Fort Lauderdale over the holiday period which began Friday, December 19th, and runs through Monday, January 5th.
An average of 84,000 passengers a day are expected to pass through the airport's terminals during the travel period.
In addition to Sunday, December 21st, the busiest travel days will be Sunday, December 28th; and Sunday, January 4th.
Available airline seats are up 8.2% compared to the same period last year.
Travelers can choose to Valet ($21/day), park in the garages ($15/day), or do airport economy parking ($7.50/day). Airport Economy Parking is located west of the airport with 3,750 available spaces. Shuttle buses run every 15 minutes to bring passengers to and from the terminals.
For those who decide to park at one of the airport's garages, they can use SunPass Plus to pay. Just use a SunPass Plus lane to enter and exit for the account to be charged. With SunPass Plus entry, no ticket is required.
For travelers who haven't been to FLL in a while, the entrance is very different.
"We have a tunnel system on US-1 in place that wasn't in place last Thanksgiving. So if you're not familiar with approaching the airport, we encourage you to give yourself that extra time," said airport spokesman Greg Meyer.
Airport officials urge those planning on picking up arriving family and friends to use the cell phone waiting area under the main entrance roadway. As you enter the airport from the main roadway, just stay to the left and follow the signs.
Passengers on domestic flights are advised to arrive two hours; three hours early for international flights.
Miami International Airport has predicted that they will see more than 2.1 million passengers during the 17-day travel period which began Sunday, December 21st and runs through Tuesday, January 6th.
The airport is expecting 124,000 a day. Christmas Day they are expecting 105,000 travelers with their highest projections - more thanr 134,000 a day - on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after New Year's.
Travelers are encouraged to use the Airport's travel app, MIA Airport Official, for their needs while traversing MIA during this holiday season.
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