Sunday marked busiest, most expensive day to travel over the past week

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - Millions of people across the country will head back home Sunday after enjoying a long Thanksgiving weekend. Several travel agencies said Sunday has shaped up to be the busiest day for travel over the last week. The American Automobile Association (AAA) said traffic will reach its peak between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday.

AAA notes that the best time to beat the traffic was anytime before 1 p.m. Travel agency Hopper predicted that the most people will be flying out on Sunday and that that will be the most expensive day to travel, with the average ticket being 45 percent more expensive than usual.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned that slowdowns and delays could occur throughout the day on Sunday. Many airports across the nation also dealt with an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers.

Albany International Airport saw thousands of travelers on Sunday. Steve Smith, the director of communications for the airport, said a record number of people passed through the airport's TSA.

"TSA has seen record numbers in departures at airports and arrivals," Smith said. "In Albany airport just today we are seeing over 5,700 departures, the largest numbers being between 4 and 6 a.m. Before 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., we saw about 1,600 passengers passing through the TSA checkpoints."

During Sunday's rush, some people arrived late to the Albany airport and missed their flights. Smith suggests arriving early for your flight.

"Our message has been clear and needs to be clear that you need to arrive to the airport at least two hours before your scheduled departure," Smith said. "We want people to check a bag if they need to, get through TSA, and get to their scheduled destination."

Expedia said the cheapest day to fly home will be travel Tuesday.