San Jose holiday travelers share delight, woes during Thanksgiving rush

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- It's the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving, a busy travel day to be sure, but people flying into Mineta San Jose International Airport had no complaints during the busy holiday season.

RELATED: Thanksgiving traffic busiest since 2005

A woman who arrived from Denver, Shauna Nevin, complimented the live music that greeted her before she got to the baggage claim. A quartet was playing in Terminal B.

Nevin said she'd never traveled for Thanksgiving before but she would highly recommend it.

Those who were arriving at SJC to fly out of town had a different story to tell.

The number of cars dropping off people at the curb made for a slow approach to the terminal, not to mention the traffic on the highway.

Alejandra Espinosa of Menlo Park said she thought she'd have plenty of time at the airport but it took so long to get there she almost missed her flight.

Another woman, who drove from Hollister to SJC to pick up her daughter, was dreading the drive home.

RELATED: The worst times to drive for Thanksgiving

Based on what she saw on the southbound side of Highway 101 she anticipated her typical one hour drive home would take two or two-and-a-half hours.

Wolfgang Muller, of Redwood City, had an interesting travel tale to tell.

He planned to drive to Southern California for Thanksgiving until Wednesday morning.

That's when he started seeing his drive time estimate grow longer and longer.

So he cashed in some airline miles and booked a last-minute flight.

Muller said he couldn't be happier with his decision.

AAA predicted almost 51,000 people would travel 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving.

That's the most since 2005.