MILWAUKEE — Christmas Eve travelers in Milwaukee found themselves pleasantly surprised by short lines and minimal wait times at both Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and the downtown Intermodal Amtrak station.
TMJ4 News spoke with several travelers who described their holiday journey as unexpectedly easy, despite predictions of heavy holiday traffic.
Watch here: Why some in Milwaukee were pleasantly surprised with their Christmas Eve travels.
"I really was expecting long lines and a lot of people during this travel day. I am pleasantly surprised," Robyn Mullendore, who was flying out of Milwaukee Wednesday, said.
Mullendore said the light-trafficked travel day was like a Christmas blessing.
"This is so fabulous," she added.
Alex Ciepluch, who was flying into Milwaukee from Austin, Texas, to visit family in Muskego, echoed that sentiment.
"It was actually pretty smooth, yeah, it wasn't busy in Austin and now they have Southwest direct, Austin to Milwaukee, so that's pretty cool," Ciepluch said. "It's pretty dead, I think I'm probably a straggler and most people probably flew out earlier this week."
Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport staff expects around 250,000 travelers between Dec. 19 and Dec. 30, similar to 2024's numbers.
At the downtown intermodal station, Amtrak travelers also found easy booking and light crowds. Krystal Lee and her family, who live in Milwaukee, were able to purchase tickets Tuesday for Christmas Eve travel to Chicago.
"We're gonna head to the Christkindl Market in Chicago and we're just going to do a little bit of shopping for the day, get something to eat, and come back," Lee said. "We just didn't really have anything to do on Christmas Eve and wanted to switch it up."
Amtrak workers reported more travelers coming into the Intermodal station than heading out.
Despite the lighter-than-expected crowds on Christmas Eve, AAA still predicts this holiday season will be busy overall. Officials recommend buying tickets ahead of time and arriving early to ensure travelers reach their destinations on schedule.
This story was reported on-air by Jenna Rae and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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