Not only does the Transportation Security Administration get better with expereince, I have to say, so do our Travelocity Thanksgiving Task Force spotters. This year was our best ever. And not just because the weather cooperated in most parts of the country, or that the President opened military airspace around the nation to ease air traffic congestion, or even the fact that there were fewer air travelers this year. I owe our success to this great team of ten who walk some of the nation's busiest airportsand report live with their findings and update the blog every hour from pre-dawn to post-dusk.

This year our spotters (who I like to affectionately refer to as Turkey Trotters) took full advantage of the technological advancements and went wireless with their PDAs, cameras, and computers to update this very blog with the latest and greatest news from the front-lines of air travel over some of the busiest travel days of the year.

If you're reading this post, you've probably read at least some of the others. (Weren't the posts great this year?) And especially because this holiday is all about giving thanks...I'd like to take the time to thank each and every one of our turkey trotters for covering the airports so well. Jenn Gaines at LAX, Holly Burns at Las Vegas, Rachel Berg in Denver, Song Yang in Atlanta, Jeff Varhol in Miami, Joel Frey at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Michael Brophy at Washington National, Jenelle Blanchard at Chicago O'Hare, Jill Harrison in Phoenix, and Genevieve Brown and Charlie Davidson at New York Lagaurdia airport. -- you guys rock! It's because of all of you, and all of our fantastic behind-the-scenes helpers (this list is long, forgive me for not naming everyone on it but you know who you are!) that Travelocity is able to help travelers in real-time know what to do to ease their travels at the holidays and any time.

While 2008 was the best year post 9/11 for Thanksgiving travels with baggage and security lines averaging under ten minutes for most travelers. Even the peaks, which went briefly as high as 30 minutes in some places, didn't come close to the hour-plus lines I recall from just six years ago when tempers ran high and people had to scramble for their flights in near panic.

None of this is to say that there isn't room for improvement. There are always things that travelers, security, airport personnel and the airline staff can do better. Most of it is out of your control but as a travelers we did witness the five mistakes most travelers made this Thanksgiving. If you want to be sure to improve your own travel expereince pay heed to these common traveler errors:

1. Not using online check-in
2. Not having the right size bag
3. Not checking in advance to see if flight times have changed
4. Not allowing enough time to get through the airport
5. Not being ready for the crowds

With minimal effort you can be sure to nip any bad travel habits you have in the bud and make your next trip a bit easier. For many of you that trip is going to be Sunday when it's time to go home. Remember that is the biggest travel day of the weekend so be prepared for longer lines that earlier this week, more confusion, and very crowded flights.

In the meantime, to all the Window Seat devotees and readers, thank you! Please keep the comments coming and have a very happy thanksgiving.