Memorial Day weekend madness kicks off 'record-breaking' summer travel season

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- If you plan on traveling this summer season, don't forget to pack your patience!

Memorial Day Weekend signals the unofficial start to the summer travel season, and travel experts are anticipating sky high, record crowds.

According to TSA, Summer 2019 is expected to be the busiest travel season on record. It's gearing up to screen 13.3-million people between San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose International airports. The estimate is up half a million from last year.

RELATED: Memorial Day weekend travel to be 2nd busiest in 20 years, AAA says

At Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) on Friday, the rush lasted throughout the day.

ABC7 News spoke with travelers heading to Spokane, London, Seattle and beyond.

"We're going to Orange County to scuba dive and watch a baseball game," Griffin Neuner, 8, said.

Across the country, 93,000 additional daily passengers are expected to take flight this summer season. According to Airlines for America, airlines are adding 111,000 seats per day to accommodate.

The industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines said it expects a record 257.4 million passengers to travel on U.S. airlines between June 1 and Aug. 31, 2019. That equates to an average of 2.8 million per day- up 3.4 percent from last summer's record 248.8 million passengers.

On the ground, Campbell resident Amy Schaumburg described the rush at SJC.

"It does remind me of like, maybe a busy Friday," she said. "Like Christmastime is when I normally fly, and it looks a little bit like that."

SJC was filled with luggage, lines and lots of people. Roads to the airport and around the Bay Area weren't much better.

"It was start, stop, start, stop," London resident, Laura Taylor said. "Nose to tail."

RELATED: Top Memorial Day sales we are shopping this weekend

AAA estimates a majority of people with Memorial Day weekend getaway plans will be getting around on four wheels.

Nationally, gas prices are lower than Memorial Day last year, but it's much higher in California. Across the Bay Area, price at the pump is well over $4.

AAA estimates travel delays could make the holiday weekend trip more than three times longer than usual.

"We figured there'd be crowds," Jeremy Neuner told ABC7 News. "Both coming and going, and in between. But it's just what you do on Memorial Day."

See more stories about Memorial Day weekend travel, sales, events, and weather.