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Holiday travel rush at TPA
It has been a busy travel day at Tampa International Airport, filled with holiday cheer and family reunions! FOX 13's Heather Healy reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - As we are one sleep away from Christmas Day, there are many air travelers gearing up to reunite with their loved ones this Christmas holiday.
The backstory:
Whether it's flying to Denver, Atlanta, New York or even going the international route, getting ready to spend Christmas with the ones they love is what matters most, no matter the distance or the cost.
What they're saying:
"Anything below 85 I freeze, so I've got my jacket, my beanie and my thermals," traveler Bryan Martinez, heading to Denver, CO this Christmas, said.
Many chose to fly on Christmas Eve to be cost-efficient.
"The flight was cheap," fellow traveler Dalton Cavaness said.
MORE NEWS: These flights are most likely to be delayed this Christmas, New Year’s
However, Cavaness said flying on New Year’s Eve is a different story when it came to flight prices.
"They were about normal price. My dad paid for that one, like for a Christmas gift," Cavaness said.
The Patil family reunited with their cousins after not seeing them for a year. They flew in from Atlanta, and reuniting with them just in time for the Christmas holiday was just the present they needed.
"It is very, very special, it's very special to us. It's a combination of the holiday season, it's people who are making it special to us," Tampa resident Urje Patil said.
Melissa Gaudet does not get to see her three-year-old granddaughter very often. They flew into Tampa from New York for Christmas, and she's been anticipating this day getting to have her family home for Christmas this year, and experience the spirit of the holiday season through a child's eyes.
"Oh, I'm beyond. I've just been working for weeks to get everything perfect for them, and talking to them, and it's so exciting, and now it's here," Gaudet said.
What's next:
Christmas Day will be considered a slow travel day, but when the day after Christmas comes, airport traffic will ramp back up. It is projected 82,000 people will be passing through Tampa.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered from travelers at the Tampa International Airport.