Thanksgiving bustling for San Jose airport travelers

SAN JOSE, CALIF. (KION-TV)- Thanksgiving usually sees airports full. But as inflation made one of the busiest travel days look normal?

Brian Hamilton from Portland thinks so.

“It’s supposed to be super busy, but the airports weren’t that busy today,” Hamilton said. “So that was nice.”

According to the Consumer Price Index, airline ticket prices have risen 25% in the past year.

People are coming in waves, but not as much as usual during this time of year. For those who opened up their wallets, they have their reasons.

“We definitely had the family conversation of are we doing this, are we not doing this,” Hamilton said. “In the end, visiting family won, and that was kind of the ultimate decision for us to go for it.”

Some travelers, like Ryan Carpenter from Boise, even tried finding good deals, but it wasn’t easy.

“It kind of sucked, but there were some great deals on certain websites and stuff,” Carpenter said. “This morning, I had a flight, and I had to rebook into another flight, and I didn’t choose the selection to be able to refund it. So I had to spend more money on another ticket. It is kind of impactful.”

Even though spending the extra money is challenging, Carpenter didn’t mind doing it.

“It is nice to see family and stuff,” Carpenter said. “It's worth it, you know what I mean?”