Dec. 17, 2025

The best and WORST times to travel by car this Christmas season

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac shares five good news Christmas stories, focusing on Delta Airlines rewarding random acts of kindness with holiday medallion cards that can be redeemed for gifts and collectibles. The script also provides travel tips, including the best and worst times to travel according to AA. Additionally, a guide to the best Christmas gifts for frequent travelers is highlighted, and Queen Camilla's annual children's party at Clarence House is recounted. Lastly, a Christmas parade in Oconto was canceled due to extreme cold weather.

5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network

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Caloroga Shark Media. Hey there, I'm Jennie Mack with five

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good news Christmas stories again. After the holidays, we'll get

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back to the normal three day a week five good

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news stories format. But for now, it's holiday time and

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holiday travel is stressful. Long security lines, over stuffed carry ons,

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weather delays. Oh my poor son. The other night he

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had a flight delay, and another flight delay, and another

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flight delay and landed at two fifty something in the morning. Yikes. Anyway,

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Delta Airlines has decided to reward the people who make

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travel a little less miserable. Delta is giving away holiday

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medallion cards to one hundred thousand people between now and

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January fifth. But you can't buy them. You gotta earn

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them by performing a random act of kindness. While traveling.

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Delta employees will be handing out the cards to customers

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they see doing something thoughtful. That could mean letting someone

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off the plane first so they can catch a tight connection. Yeah,

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stop being a selfish jerk. Also, just everybody learn how

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to in one move get your luggage out of the overhead.

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I could do this at a full sprint. It is

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not hard. Please learn this skill. You guys don't know

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how to d board I digress. Delta will also recognize

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people helping a stranger with a heavy bag, sharing a snack,

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a phone charger, or just being a decent human being

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in an airport. The Delta folks said, while holiday travel

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brings its own share of pressure, Delta is shifting the

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spotlight to simple acts of humanity that make our journeys memorable.

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All right, Johnny Mack, what do you actually get? Well?

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The Holiday Medallion cards can be redeemed in the Delta

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Shop for a surprise gift. Those gifts include one hundred

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year anniversary merchandisee asids, deltas, one hundred year merchlike collectibles,

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and plush airline toys. A limited number of cards can

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also be traded for centennial gift sets, which include trading

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cards and a five hundred dollars Delta gift card. So

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be on good behavior because story number two, a record

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breaking number of Americans are expected to hit the road

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this season, prompting Triple A to tell you when you

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should and shouldn't travel. Alright, this is useful, Triple A

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tells us interstates are expected to be especially crowded the

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weekend before Christmas. That's this weekend. As travelers begin their

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trips on Saturday and Sunday. The worst travel times generally

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fall between midday and early evening. Best times to drive

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early morning or late at night. Some light days for

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travel Christmas Day and New Year's Day. You want specifics

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Okay Saturday worst noon to eight best after nine pm,

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Sunday worst one to seven best before eleven am. Next

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Monday and Tuesday, the twenty second, twenty third worst one

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to seven best before ten am next Friday and Sunday,

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December twenty sixth through the twenty eighth worst, eleven to

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eight best before eleven and if you want to plan

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ahead for the twenty ninth and thirtieth worst noon eight

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best before ten am. Here are some of the most

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congested roots. Washington to Baltimore Saturday delays will increase one

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hundred and thirty three percent. Yikes. Boston in New Hampshire

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on Saturday delays up one twenty six percent. La to

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Palm Springs the day after Christmas delays up eighty nine percent.

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New York City to Lahampton's on Monday delays up ninety percent.

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Be like Johnny mack head down to the basement you've

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got an Xbox, a PlayStation five and streaming services, you

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don't need to go anywhere. You can even record some

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podcasts while you're here. A new guide from Time Out

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is highlighting the best Christmas gifts for frequent travelers. Their

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recommendations begin with the popier off Pieced Travel Journal, a stylish,

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customizable notebook with dedicated sections for packing lists, accommodation details, itineraries,

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and plenty of writing space that are running around thirty

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five bucks or so for packing, and they recommend Antler's

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Compression packing cubes, which use double compression zippers to maximize

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suitcase space. They're also big fans of the Carl Frederick

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check in suitcase that will any over five hundred bucks,

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though it's described as a durable, premium suitcase built with

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an aluminum frame, polycarbonate shell, and zipper free locking system.

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If you're looking for sleep, the Drowsy Sleep Company Silk

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sleep mask is praised for its padded silk and full

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blackout design, and they also like the Loop Quiet two

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earplugs for around twenty bucks or so, designed for flights

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with twenty four decibels of noise reduction and pressure equalization.

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I'm the writer on the podcast Palace Intrigue, where we

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talk about the royal family a lot and Queen Camilla

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hosted her annual festive children's party at Clarence House. She

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welcomed young guests to help decorate the tree, enjoy a

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visit from Father Christmas and the reindeer. It was the

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twentieth year Camilla has hosted the event. Photographs from the

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event show the Queen smiling as she sat in a

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sleigh alongside children, with Santa position behind her. There's probably

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some royal protocol there. Even if you're Santa Claus, you

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can't stand in front of the Queen. I guess the

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sleigh itself is a royal heirloom first used by Queen

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Victoria and Prince Albert. Santa even brought toys for the

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Queen's dogs. Now you know who else was there? This

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guy Major Treasure. He's a really good looking dude, and

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some royal watchers liked keep an eye on Major Treasure.

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That's his name. His name is Rob Treasure and his

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rank is Major, but just the nickname Major Treasure is awesome.

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Handsome dude, and Major Treasure was seen placing decorations on

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the Christmas tree using his ceremonial sword. Yes, royal fans

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like that one. And I guess this isn't good news,

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but it's interesting news. The Oconto Christmas Parade was scheduled

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for last weekend, and you know what canceled the Christmas

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parade the cold. They're expecting one degree temperatures with a

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windshill of minus sixteen. Rebecca is the parade organizer and said,

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my thought kind of was going off the school rules.

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You know, they can't be outside if it's below zero.

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So I'm like, well, if we don't let our kids

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outside below zero in general during the daytime, I can't

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imagine the nighttime. It's just so cold. You know. Many

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commenters on Facebook were not too happy. One said they

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had three thousand pieces of candy and no little kids

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to give it to. And those are your four good

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news Christmas stories and whatever that last one was. At

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least it was interesting and I'll see you tomorrow.