2 midweek holidays could add to travel rush at Philadelphia International Airport

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Christmas may be in the rearview mirror, but holiday traffic is still ahead, with many people returning from their destinations.

AAA projected December 26 to be one of the busiest travel days of the season.

"Honestly it felt like the smoothest airport trip I could have ever had," said Maximus Reyes from Burlington City, New Jersey, who flew into Philadelphia International Airport after visiting family in North Carolina for Christmas.

His only complaint? "It was still cold," he said.

Little did he know, he was flying as holiday travel was peaking.

"We wondered why we organized a family reunion on the day after Christmas for that reason, but it's all working out great," said Bob Carriker from Lafayette, Louisiana.

AAA projected record-breaking travel for this holiday season with 8 million people nationwide flying to and from their holiday destinations.

"It's the day after Christmas but I'm surprised it didn't crash this year," said Cherish Brown, who said she had a smooth flight into town.

As she hitches a ride into the city, however, she may hit some traffic.

AAA says the worst time to drive is between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m.

"Because of the way the holiday falls, with two back-to-back midweek holidays, that gives a lot of people many days, several days, to perhaps not just travel to be with family and friends for the holiday but also to take a vacation. So, people could be traveling multiple times during the week," said Jana Tidwell with AAA.

The travel entity says if you can wait, it's better to hit the roads Friday before 2 p.m. After that, it's expected to get a bit dicey again on Friday evening.

Roughly 1.3 million people in the greater Philadelphia area traveled at least 50 miles for the holidays, and they all need to get home or get to their New Year's Eve destination.

"Other than that, it been clear," said Daryl Munson from North Philadelphia. "I got between A and B in quick time."

Drivers said they weren't going to let traffic interrupt their post-Christmas plans.

"No, we're looking for a good time," said Dayle Johnson from Newark, Delaware.

If you are flying out of PHL, call 1-800-PHL-Gate to check on the status of flights.

The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers over the holidays and through January 2.