GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – AAA predicts more than 119 million people will travel 50 or more miles from home this holiday season. The majority of these travelers, 90%, will drive to their destination.

Those planning to take to the skies at Gerald R. Ford International Airport appeared to have discovered a travel “hack.”

Many said they would prefer to book flights on Christmas Eve because there is less crowding and lines at TSA. One traveler discovered this theory to be true when he arrived at the airport.

“I kind of thought it would be like Home Alone where you run down and try to get tickets, but pretty easy, pretty quick,” Cameron Figg said.

News Channel 3 spoke with Figg as he waited to check in his luggage for his American Airlines flight to Hawaii with his family. Shortly after speaking with Figg, a “technical issue” caused the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue a brief grounding of all American Airlines in the United States at the airline’s request. Flights resumed around 8:09 a.m., about an hour after the ground stop.

Another traveler heading to Seattle offered the following tip for those traveling on Christmas Eve:

“Leave early because if you’re late, you have a chance of catching another flight,” Mike Staff said.

New FAA guidelines require airlines to offer passengers a fully automated cash refund for all canceled or “significantly changed” flights.

Material changes include, but are not limited to, a delay in departure or arrival times of 3 or more hours for domestic flights and of 6 or more hours for international flights.