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Thanksgiving Travelers Break Records

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A record number of people will be traveling this Thanksgiving. While many have already reached their destinations, some are still on their journey.

A lot of travelers waited until Thursday to head out for Thanksgiving, a way to avoid stress and save money.

"The lines are moving pretty quick. And traffic was a little bit but it's been good," said traveler Melissa Strickland.

The busiest travel days of the year, could reach record-breaking levels. The TSA expects, 3.7 million to fly this week.

"We're TSA pre-checked. It's something we enjoy we travel a good bit. So we skipped some of those security lines," said Brock Strickland.

At BWI airport, all gates are open and lines are shorter than usual.

"Thanksgiving day is the best day to travel because as you can see it's very empty,"said Paul Baraz.

"It's less you know bustle all over the place, plus it tends to be cheaper," said Josh Taylor.

Travelers say their journey so far has been smooth, with planes, boarding, arriving and departing on time, to accommodate the additional passengers.

Maryland will see an extra 31,000 travelers compared to last year.

"We're seeing rising wages. Overall consumer confidence is increasing so those are good things and also we're seeing pretty low gas prices."

For some, the incentive to travel on Thanksgiving day, is priceless.

"I think it's better to do that. If you don't have anything to do. You just go and meet the food and eat," said Yaw Asirifi.

More than 90 percent of travelers will be driving. So have a back-up route in mind to avoid gridlock. AAA recommends that travelers avoid the peak hours. Hitting the road really early in the morning or after 8 p.m. will help you avoid heavy traffic.

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