PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Budgets may be tight, but for a lot of Americans, Thanksgiving travel is what they want to pay for with their limited resources.

Eva Daly, waiting for her sister's train to arrive today in Philadelphia from Connecticut, said her family puts its spending priorities on holiday gatherings. She says, "For us, it's most important that we get together, so we cut back somewhere else if we need to."

One man waiting at the Philadelphia airport for his wife's flight from North Carolina says their son in Boston isn't able to join them this year because of travel costs -- but they hope to have the whole family together in North Carolina for Christmas.

Even those who can afford to travel may be having some trouble getting where they're going on this busy travel day. Dense fog in the Chicago area this morning forced dozens of flights to be canceled, and hundreds of others to be delayed.

Early morning travelers at Reagan National Airport outside Washington faced long lines to get through security. At one checkpoint, at least three dozen people waited in each of four lines. The waiting time, just to get to screening, was at least 15 to 20 minutes -- and that was at 5 a.m.

Grad student Courtney Tucker, traveling to see her family in Atlanta, said she plans to drive home for Christmas and avoid the "craziness" in the airports.

%@AP Links

170-a-11-(Joanne Hawk, train passenger bound from Woodbridge, Virginia, to Connecticut, in AP interview at Union Station)-"on the train"-We caught up with Joanne Hawk of Virginia at Union Station in D.C. She was waiting for a train to take her to Connecticut, but it was already an hour late. (21 Nov 2012)

<<CUT *170 (11/21/12)>> 00:11 "on the train"

134-a-15-(Vince Arocho, rail traveler, in AP interview)-"a little punchy"-Vince Arocho says it's going to take a while to get to his Thanksgiving destination. (21 Nov 2012)

<<CUT *134 (11/21/12)>> 00:15 "a little punchy"

133-a-10-(Abdul Barry, college student, arriving home, in AP interview)-"nobody got hurt"-Abdul Barry says his trip home from college was a lot smoother this year, compared to previous years. (part of cut used in wrap) (21 Nov 2012)

<<CUT *133 (11/21/12)>> 00:10 "nobody got hurt"

APPHOTO NYRD104: Passengers wait to board a train in New York's Penn Station, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. Around 43.6 million Americans were expected to journey 50 miles or more between Wednesday and Sunday, just a 0.7 percent increase from last year, according to AAA's yearly Thanksgiving travel analysis. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (21 Nov 2012)

<<APPHOTO NYRD104 (11/21/12)>>

APPHOTO ILCA106: Fog descends upon Chicago's O'Hare International Airport as holiday travel begins Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. Thanksgiving travelers encountered cancellations and delays at Chicago's airports on Wednesday as extremely dense fog settled over the region. About 90 inbound and outbound flights were canceled and more than 400 flights were delayed at O'hare and Midway airports as of around 7:45am. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (21 Nov 2012)

<<APPHOTO ILCA106 (11/21/12)>>