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Holiday Travel Guide

Header graphic includes photo of holiday decor displayed at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport with the following text. Holiday Travel Guide. Tips to make the most of your travel this holiday season.

Another busy holiday season is upon us! We want your BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport experience to be a good one.

Arrive early and be patient. Please arrive 2 hours early if heading to a domestic destination and 3 hours early for international travel.

Airport parking availability is displayed at BWIairport.com and on roadway signage. In the event that all of our parking facilities reach capacity, drivers will be directed to the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport Rail Station Garage at 5 Amtrak Way. Free shuttle service is provided from this location.

If you need wheelchair assistance while traveling, please arrange this with your airline before your day of travel. Wheelchair arrangements should preferably be made at time of booking.

To contact our Customer Experience team, call 410-859-7683 or email [email protected]. Lost and Found information is available here.

To help alleviate potential traffic congestion on the Arrivals/Lower Level roadway, drivers should consider using the Departures/Upper Level roadway for both passenger drop-off and pickup.

Our Cell Phone Lot, off I-195 next to our Hourly Garage, provides drivers a safe and convenient location to wait for an arriving passenger. To minimize curbside congestion, arriving passengers are encouraged to contact their driver only once they are ready to leave the terminal.

Thank you for including BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport in your holiday travel.

Parking and Transit

Exterior photo of the BWI Marshall Airport Daily Garage

BWI Marshall Airport parking lots and garages are home to nearly 25,000 parking spaces.

To see real-time parking availability for all airport parking facilities, click here.

Dine and Shop

Photo of passengers walking through the B/C Connector inside BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport

There are so many restaurants and retail shops to visit while you wait for a flight.

Click here to check airport dining and shopping options.

Security Information

Photo of passengers in a security checkpoint queue at BWI Marshall Airport.

TSA requires a REAL ID (or equivalent) at security checkpoints. For more security screening info, visit TSA.gov.

To view real-time checkpoint wait times, click here.

Connect With Us

Graphic including a photo of passengers in the main terminal area of BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport with text of Follow Us On Social Media and icons representing Facebook, Twitter, Threads and Instagram.

Follow our Facebook / Instagram / Threads / X accounts for travel info or to ask travel questions.

Tag us and include #HolidaysAtBWI in your social media posts.

Terminal Information

Photo of an overhead replica aircraft and a large tree with holiday decorations on display at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport

For assistance in navigating the airport, click here to visit our wayfinding page.

Drivers should not stop on area roadways to wait for passengers. Please wait in our safe and convenient Cell Phone Lot.

Other Helpful Tips

Photo of a wreath with holidays displayed near the top of the end on a terminal roadway canopy at BWI Marshall Airport with a departing Southwest Airlines aircraft in the background.

Our busiest days for Thanksgiving travel are expected to be Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and Nov. 26.

For questions on flight status and baggage information, please contact your airline.