I posted some holiday travel tips a few days ago, secretly dreading my upcoming trip today. As a frequent business traveler, I’m used to all the travel headaches and ever-changing security rules, but on days when there’s a major holiday and lots of people traveling, all those delays add up. I’m happy to report that security at JFK wasn’t bad at all – I’m in Terminal 9 right now, after breezing through a tiny check-in line and nearly empty security checkpoint. I was kind of surprised, actually – normally, JFK T9 has more people in it this time of day – but hey, I’m not complaining.

BUT – and you knew there had to be a but – it took about twice as long as usual to get here. Traffic in the city and all the way out to JFK was horrible. It took an hour and 45 minutes to get here from the east village. It probably would’ve been quicker to take the train, which is usually the option that takes the longest (but is the most cost-effective). So for those of you who haven’t left yet, or are heading out to Long Island from Manhattan via car, plan some extra time to get there.