ST. LOUIS — From delays to cancellations to long lines, this weekend has been a travel nightmare for many people across the country.
According to flight tracker FlightAware, more than 16,000 flights were delayed and 5,000 flights were canceled nationwide on Christmas Eve.
The story was similar for passengers at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. The airport's website showed more than 60 delays and about 10 cancellations for departing flights.
Holiday weekends always bring a different kind of hustle and bustle to airports everywhere, but the winter storm brought more headaches than cheer.
Stacey Acree, the president of Brentwood Travel, said the mess at airports didn't shock her.
"I’m not surprised. Holiday travel is always the busiest and most exciting time of the year and things can go wrong because of winter storms, flight delays, shortage of staff," she said.
5 On Your Side meteorologist Tracy Hinson shot video on Friday night of a line of bags wrapped around the baggage carousel at St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
While it was a different site from Christmas Eve morning, the crowds and cancellations continued.
Acree said it's best to know you have options if something doesn't go as planned.
"The biggest option is if you get to the airport early and you find that something has gone wrong, you need to know what flights are going out next and what you can get on," she said.
If you see that "cancel" sign next to your flight number, according to Acree, the best thing to do is act fast.
"Take a deep breathe. Your patience is huge at this time of year, and you need to get online, call your travel professional or just research.
"Come to the airport and work with the people at the front counter so they can at least put you on another flight or your travel agent can put you on another flight for the next possible date," she said.
There were several different stories of travelers at Lambert on Christmas Eve.
5 On Your Side spoke with one woman who was too heartbroken to go on camera, but her flight was completely cancelled.
She said she was going to Denver to visit her grandchildren. She hasn't seen them in three years.
The employee at the ticket counter told her that she wouldn't be able to get out to Denver until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Rebecca Clarahan and her family were some of the lucky ones and actually got ahead of the storm.
"Initially we were supposed to fly out of Chicago (Saturday). But because of the weather, we decided to change it because we were afraid with O’Hare being busy and flights being cancelled and just the weather that we wouldn’t be able to go out on time," she said.
Clarahan said they drove from Iowa to make sure they could get to warmer weather for the holiday.
"We wanted to spend Christmas together. This is our second big family trip like this out of the country," she said.
Before they headed out to soak up the sun in Cancun, the final had one final message to everyone.
"I hope everyone has safe travels and just a very Merry Christmas."
Acree said other tips to keep in mind while traveling is to have your airline's app on your phone to receive alerts about your flight and to know your airlines cancellation and voucher policies.