Busiest travel day of holiday season kicks off in DC

WASHINGTON - The holiday season's busiest travel day kicked off in the D.C. area Thursday morning with crowds of travelers jamming local roads, rails and airports.

AAA Mid-Atlantic says a combined total of 7.2 million people from Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. will travel by automobile to their Christmas time and New Year's Eve holiday destinations. The worst hours for gridlock, they say, are between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Thursday.

The Transportation Security Administration says 400,000 extra air travelers will pass through the nation's airports in the days leading to Christmas. An extra 1,400 TSA officers and additional K9 teams have been put into place. The TSA recommends arriving two hours early if traveling domestically and three hours early if flying internationally.

If your traveling with holiday gifts, the TSA says wait until you get to your destination to wrap them. They also say you can travel with baked good.