What to know before you hit the stores, board a plane for Thanksgiving

If you’re planning to hit the stores Tuesday or Wednesday for those last-minute items, check your shopping list twice.

Grocery store experts say people often forget the little items that can help the whole meal come together.

Workers at Wegmans said dessert, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, sugar, butter, condensed milk, stuffing mix, foil, spices and marshmallows are often important pieces of a Thanksgiving table.

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Because they’re popular items, finding them could be difficult at your nearby store.

Shoppers should be prepared to wait if they’re going to the store Tuesday.

Experts say most people think Wednesday is the busiest day to shop before Thanksgiving, so many go Tuesday.

Pack your patience if you’re traveling, too. Raleigh-Durham International Airport said more than 290,000 people are expected to fly through the airport this week, which is a 3 percent increase from the same time last year.

Some people at the airport could try to steal passengers’ personal information, a local security expert said.

Greg Manson of Carolinas IT said air travelers should be careful to make sure “shoulder surfers” aren’t peeking at their laptop screens to glean personal information.

People should avoid using public WiFi and portable charging stations as well as sharing too much personal information in conversations.

“Sharing information and details about your trip, about what you’re actually doing, where you live, how long you’re going to be gone – all information that can be used nowadays to exploit your identity,” Manson said.

And hackers can use the QR code on some boarding passes to change a passenger’s information on an airline website.

Traveling for Thanksgiving? Skip traffic, take the train