Driving, bus, rideshare? Channel 9 tests the best ways to get to the airport

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thanksgiving travel is underway with Tuesday and Wednesday expected to be two of the busiest days of the year at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Airport officials are expecting 30,000 passengers to begin and end their travels in CLT those days. That's in addition to the more than 100,000 daily connecting passengers.

With the influx of people flooding to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Channel 9 tested four ways to get to the airport to compare times and prices. All trips started in First Ward Park, except for the bus, which started at the Transit Center. The stopwatch started when we got inside the vehicle and it stopped once inside the terminal.

The first method we tested was being dropped off in the hourly parking deck. We started our trek at 4:08 p.m. and used Wilkinson Boulevard instead of the congested interstates. We made it inside the terminal in 26 minutes. There was no cost because the first hour is free. Airport officials recommend people drop off and pick up passengers in the hourly parking deck. Doing so alleviates traffic curbside and is a less painful experience.

The second method we tested was driving to the airport and parking. Channel 9 departed First Ward at 5:10 p.m. Once again, we used Wilkinson Boulevard. The goal was to park in a long-term lot, but both were full.

We opted to park in the Daily North lot, which requires a shuttle, like if you parked in the long-term lol. After packing into a cramped shuttle, we were dropped off at the terminal. The total time for the trip was 43 minutes. The Daily North lot costs $8 a day. The long-term lots cost $7 a day. The daily lot takes $10 but is close enough to the terminal that people could walk there if they choose to.

The third method we tested was Uber. The Uber picked us up at 6:35 p.m. from First Ward Park. The driver elected to use Freedom Drive and back roads to get to the airport. The back roads paid off and we arrived at the airport in 23 minutes. The trip was efficient but costly. The rideshare cost $23 to get from uptown to the airport.

The final method we tested was a CATS bus. CATS offers a bus every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on nights and weekends. We hopped on the 7:30 p.m. bus. The ride cost $2.20 one way. It was spacious and had minimum stops. Traffic, however, hindered the bus. A large number of cars trying to access the arrivals curbside pickup slowed the performance of the bus. It took 37 minutes for us to get to the terminal.

Airport passengers can track parking at Charlotte-Douglas by clicking here.

More than 55 million people will be flying or driving to destinations this Thanksgiving, the American Automobile Association said.

[THANKSGIVING TRAVEL GUIDE: What you need to know for the holiday week]

The Thanksgiving travel forecast released by AAA projects that 49.3 million people will drive and 4.45 million people will fly this year.

AAA notes that the Monday before Thanksgiving is the best day to fly, followed by traveling on Thanksgiving Day.

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Cox Media Group