TAMPA, Fla. — For the next five weeks thousands of tourists will flock to Florida’s coastal cities to enjoy everything the state has to offer. Some may drive, but many will fly.

“This is like our Super Bowl,” says Emily Nipps, Communications Director for Tampa International Airport.

With an average of over 90,000 people expected to travel through TPA every day during the Spring Break season, Nipps, has a few tips to make the experience easier.

The first, she says, is to arrive early.

“If you’re used to getting here at the last minute for your flight, this isn’t the time to do that. I recommend arriving two hours early if you have a domestic flight and three hours early for international,” said Nipps. “During this period, we will have about 300,000 cars parked here. It’s always a good idea to book online and make sure you are guaranteed a parking space when you come here.”

Leaving early is key. Take it from Fletcher Jordan. He and his family drove from Northport, an hour’s drive from Tampa.

“We had to get up at 4:30/5. I was really tired when I woke up,” he said.

But it’s all worth it, he says, because he’s headed to North Carolina.

“I’m going to go see my cousins and we’re going to have a lot of fun,” Jordan added.

Unfortunately, though, the Jordan’s trip will begin a little later than expected. Fletcher’s father, Jesse Jordan, said his family got a little surprise by way of text message early Saturday morning. 

“It wasn’t until we pulled into the parking lot that we started getting delayed and delayed and delayed,” he said. “Right now, we’re about five hours behind.”

Aside from parking and longer wait times, construction is also underway in parts of the airport.

“Shuttle service at some of the airsides is limited. Some have one shuttle at a time because we’re doing our shuttle replacement project,” Nipps says.

With that in mind and the fact that 3.3 million passengers are expected to travel in and out of TPA, the airport recently added a new feature to address this.

“There’s a self-service bag drop, so that makes it a quicker and easier experience for people. You don’t have to wait for somebody to help you. And you can go on and check your bags yourself and people really like that, especially families coming in with a lot of luggage, kids, baby strollers. People love it,” she said.

Lastly, Nipps says crews have expanded security checkpoints in airsides A and E to meet with demand.